We all know Ivy leagues are generous with money…relatively, at least.
But what about schools that are need aware? How do you know which school is more generous about scholarship+FA for int students than other schools? Do you just look up average amount of the aid given?
I am curious
By using the Common Data Set.
A lot of colleges publish this. International students are referred to as ‘Non-resident Aliens’.
In Section B in the CDS, the total no. of intl. students enrolled in the college is mentioned. Note this, and move to Section H in the CDS. Here, the colleges specify if they award merit aid/ need-based/ both to intl. students followed by the no. of intl. students receiving aid, and the average aid.
Note:
a) All figures mentioned are total enrollments i.e 4 batches included. Dividing figures mentioned by 4 can give a rough estimate
b) These are enrollements, and not admits. Generally, yield figures are higher for internationals seeking aid(they might not have many options), so do factor in this as well
For eg. Middlebury roughly has about 25 internationals per year with aid, but about 45-50 paying full freight. Shows that getting in with aid is extremely hard…
If students are looking for full rides, it is better to visit the college websites first, and see if
Colleges promise to meet full need of all admitted students (No use getting in if you can’t afford it)
OR
They expect you to pay some amount to be eligible for admission ( Eg. Union College, Tulane (Max.Full tuition)
If colleges promise to meet full need, but the average aid provided to intl. students is $20,000 less than the tuition, it may indicate that colleges are admitting intl students with aid, but rarely people asking for full rides.
CC college forums also help sometimes. Facts like Brandeis awarding only 4 full Wien Intl Scholarships, or College of Wooster giving approx 2-3 internationals full rides can be discovered if you do some research.
Also, there are some factors beyond your control which may affect you. Let us suppose you are asking for aid, and you are from a highly represented intl. country like India or China. Assuming there are 5-6 others from your country not asking for aid, colleges might as well admit the full paying students from your country, and give that financial aid to a person with similar stats, essays, etc but hailing from an under represented country (say,Tonga). When colleges award aid to less than 30-35 intl. students, geographic diversity also might matter.