<p>There are news reports that the weak dollar has made US colleges far more affordable for internationals and that the number of international applicants paying full price has greatly increased resulting in an unanticipated financial benefit for many colleges. I know that the UK universities, oxbridge et al, for years have viewed US and Canadian students as a source of extra funding, to the point of charging a $25k surcharge not applicable to UK and EU students. I am curious as to whether there are any statistics that show how many of the approx 9% of MIT students who are internationals are paying in cheap dollars as opposed to receiving financial aid from MIT.</p>
<p>At MIT 73% of internationals (250/343) are receiving financial aid as compared to 64% for US residents. The average aid package is also larger ($37,000 as compared to $33,000). </p>
<p>MIT</a> Office of the Provost, Institutional Research</p>
<p>So, with roughly only one in four international students paying full tuition and most others paying very little, international recruiting is clearly not a source of profit for MIT. They are doing significant outreach in developing countries and are one of the very few colleges fully need blind to internationals. Even if $50,000 may seem less than it used for some international applicants, it is still prohibitive for most people and MIT would not attract the best technical minds from around the world if it did not have generous financial aid.</p>
<p>All of this is largely irrelevant to MIT.</p>
<p>All admissions to MIT are need-blind, without considering the ability to pay.
All financial aid awards at MIT are merit-blind, without considering the "quality" of the applicant, but only considering the ability to pay.</p>
<p>As a result, MIT does not look upon internationals as a source of cash, nor as a money sink. There is however, a cap on the percentage of internationals in each class, primarily for financial reasons.</p>