Stanford Financial Aid: Need-aware?

Pistachio
Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:19:59 +0000

I could be wrong, but I’m under the impression that Stanford is need-blind for U.S. applicants and is only “need-aware” for international applicants.

An explanation as to why (from the Stanford Daily):

To offer need-blind admissions for international students, Hennessy estimated, the University would have to spend at least an additional $10 million each year — an increase that would require a $200 million bump in Stanford’s endowment. Currently, Hennessy suggested, Stanford’s endowment per student ratio is insufficient to fund need-blind admissions, which Harvard, Yale and Princeton are all able to do.

“Our peer institutions are able to offer need-blind financial aid because of the total size of their endowment compared to their student body,” Hennessy said. “Harvard has a student body that’s slightly larger than ours, but it has an endowment roughly twice ours. Princeton has an endowment five percent smaller than us, but a student population that is half in size. The endowment per student is significantly lower at Stanford than at Harvard, Yale and Princeton.”