"At these schools, international students received nearly $63,000 on average in financial aid, U.S. News data show. …
… Among the 451 ranked schools where at least 50 international students were awarded aid during the 2017-2018 school year, the average amounted to nearly $21,200, according to data submitted to U.S. News in an annual survey. But the average was significantly higher among the 10 schools where those students were allocated the most aid, averaging more than $62,700.
The schools with the most generous packages include some of the most selective and top-ranked National Universities, which offer a range of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs, and National Liberal Arts Colleges, which focus on undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in liberal arts disciplines." …
Apart from need blind universities and other elite schools, I would suggest taking a look at smaller, private colleges such as liberal arts ones if you’re an international looking for a lot of aid. They’re extremely competitive as well but you could have more options now
Fascinating that Williams, which is need-blind for US citizens but not for international students, and Skidmore, which is need-aware overall, are both on the list of the most generous colleges for international students. I would not have predicted that.
At Williams, international students and students from the U.S. interact a lot and become friends, enhancing the learning experience for all, so the ‘investment’ of generous aid is benefitting international and domestic students alike.
What’s really surprising is that Princeton, with the most endowment $$ per student of any colleges and arguably offer the most generous FA, isn’t on the top 10 list. Guess they aren’t as generous to internationals.
That’s because being need blind/aware has little to do with how generous schools are with aid, domestic or international. Meeting full need is the important feature for internationals to look for.
https://financialaid.duke.edu/awarding-and-policy
“Financial resources for international students are limited. Each year Duke University expects to enroll 20 to 25 international students whose full demonstrated need has been met with a university-provided need-based aid package.”
Wish I had stumbled into this post earlier, it would have made college hunting much easier! Anyway thanks for sharing. Quite surprised that Columbia is ranked first considering it’s need-aware for internationals.
@cellofellow When I checked Columbia net calc I got for my case EFC 2-4 times higher than for any another top U where international applicant have chances to get financial aid. For sure net calc doesn’t giving correct results for internationals but to compare one U to another as for me it suitable. Better conceive this rating very critically