Hi this is my first post so please forgive me if I’m posting in the wrong forum. To start with,I’m an international student having completed a levels, ACT and TOEFL with 32 in ACT (not exactly stellar) and 110 TOEFL ibt. Is there any chance anyone here can share about any colleges that offer full ride (or very high financial aid) for international students based on merit result? I also understand that American schools don’t just look at academic results alone. Just wanted to find out if there’s any school like this from the forum. One of such I have heard of is Berea and I hope someone could share more info with me. I have done some research, but because it’s late night now I thought I’d put in the discussion first and see if there’s any reply the next morning. Thanks for any replies. Cheers.
While it’s Berea’s mission to serve low-income students, their international admission rates are very very low. On the order of 2-4%, last time they published their international admit rates separately from the overall admission rate. That doesn’t mean that it’s not worth applying. Just please be realistic about your odds and apply to a large number and wide range of schools.
Here’s a good compilation of merit-based scholarships: http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
The list may not be fully up-to-date and not all scholarships are open to international students, so you should check each university website directly.
If you are interested in need-based aid, many liberal arts colleges on the US News list of [National Liberal Arts Colleges](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges) fund some number of international students. I’d skip beyond the first 10-20 entries, and focus on somewhat less selective colleges. Competition for international financial aid is always significantly higher than competition for admission overall. I’d recommend you restrict yourself to schools where your ACT score is above the 75th percentile for the student body as a whole.
Thanks for your reply. I’ve previously looked into those websites too and I’ve seen some whereby I qualify for full but I understand that America is a diverse country so what would you advise about an international applying to historically black school? Sorry if that came out offensive, but I truthfully do not mean to offend any party. Wish I could’ve worded it better.
Do you have specific recommendations on liberal arts? I know a few like wake forest but I guess my finances can’t really get me there 
(I wish education were free)
The HBCUs do have pretty good records of admitting international students. You should not be afraid of including any of them on your list provided they otherwise meet your criteria.
Regarding historically black colleges: it comes down to your comfort level. Or how far you are willing to go out of your comfort zone.
For me personally, I hate homogeneous environments. I tend to feel alienated and excluded when everyone else has a lot in common - whether a common cultural background, a common hobby, a common religion, etc. (I particularly hate groups of German immigrants, even though I am a German immigrant myself.)
I prefer environments diverse enough that people don’t presume to know other people’s backgrounds. I am not sure if historically-black colleges would fit that bill.
@happymomof1 Thank you for your reply. Is there a specific HBCU that you know of which has more international students?
I don’t know the stats for any particular HBCU. You should be able to find that information at their websites.
@b@r!um (not sure if the tag worked) Thank you for your input. Are you aware of any schools like Berea? Does that make you an international student? Do you know any schools that offer substantial aids for international student? I feel my ACT can be low for some schools for scholarships.
@BarryA how much do you exactly need?
@paul2752 sorry for the late reply and sorry if I sound greedy but it’d be as much as possible? I actually looked into universities with lowest tuition in US too, whose tuition fees are reasonable for me (before including boarding and all)
So yeah that’s a rough idea what I can get…
Saying “as much as possible” isn’t helpful.
For international students, the costs of American colleges, with the cost of housing included, can vary from $70,000 per year to $20,000. It’s hard to find something cheaper.
Of that amount, what can your family pay each year?
If your family can’t pay anything other than for the plane ticket to the US, you need what we call “a full ride,” meaning financial aid that covers all your school expenses, room and board. That’s very, very hard to get – and it’s not available at those $20,000 per year schools since those are public community colleges that do not offer financial aid or scholarships for international students.