Is need blind really need blind?

All schools want to put a best spin on their FA policies, at least publicly on their websites. If it doesn’t say it’s need-blind, you can bet either:

  1. it’s need-aware; or
  2. it could exercise its option to become need-aware on some applications; or
  3. its admissions and FA office functions aren’t segregated properly to make the claim to be need-blind; or
  4. it’s been changing its policy back-and-forth (e.g. CWRU); or
  5. it’s a public school so it can’t discriminate on the basis of applicants’ finances.