<p>Hi everyone!</p>
<p>I'm planning to apply to a few LACs, but was wondering if there were anymore with a significant amount of financial need based/merit aid for Intl's?
My parents are able to pay about 15k per year.</p>
<p>I'm looking to apply to
Carleton
Reed
Bates
Wesleyan
Grinnell
Lewis and Clark
Skidmore</p>
<p>Are there any more which would fit me?
Thanks!!</p>
<p>I hope someone else might add and correct me, but I think none of the schools you list provide any merit or need aid to Intl students. I think there are only about 6-8 that do HYPSM+S, Amherst and perhaps one other. Intl students tend to subsidize domestic students at most colleges only a few will give you aid.</p>
<p>@Englishman As far as I’m concerned, except for Lewis and Clark (which i dont know about their policy), most of the shools he mentioned do offer need-based, though competitive, for International Students</p>
<p>@Shystarryskies I know a lot of friends currently attending Bates, Wesleyan, Grinnell, and Skidmore and most of them pay $10,000 - $15,000/year (one guy even $6,000/year but he graduated 3 years ago). </p>
<p>I’d make sure you run the fin aid calculators first, very little aid is available even if some is, by way of notional $5K scholarships/grants, be wary its your net pay/cost that you need to ensure you are covering, look to at the schools I noted they provide ALOT of aid where necessary</p>
<p>There is a difference between "meets need’for international students (which only a very small number of schools do) and offers some aid. You might look at Dickinson. Not sure what your stats are, but Dickinson suggests on their website that international students with a 32 ACT or 1350 SAT CR + Math score (or higher) will be more competitive for need based aid. If you are female, you might look at Mount Holyoke. Some ways you can get more information for each school:</p>
<ul>
<li>Look at their financial aid website page and read the details for international students (there is usually a separate web page)</li>
<li>Google “<college name=”"> Common Data Set" for each college. There is a section on financial aid, and one thing you can see is how many international students got need based aid and the average amount. You can then compare that to the total number of international students to see what % are getting FA and how much.</college></li>
<li>Not sure if the net price calculators each college offers has a spot to mark that you are international, or if they are very accurate for internationals, but it would be another place to look.</li>
</ul>
<p>Englishman-Phongtheha’s right. Many of the schools on the OP’s list offer need-based aid to international students. At Bates the FA package for international students is all grants and work-study. My husband was an international student who went through Bates on a full scholarship that covered tuition, room & board and books. He had to do some work-study but he graduated without student loans. Check the individual schools’ FA pages for the most accurate information.
<a href=“International Students | Student Financial Services | Bates College”>http://www.bates.edu/financial-services/financial-aid/international-undergraduates/</a></p>
<p>The amount of need based aid you receive depends on 1) Your estimated family contribution as determined by a net price calculator and 2) the individual college’s policy toward giving need based aid to internationals.</p>
<p>The first step is to ask your parents to use a NPC to get your EFC. These are usually gauged toward US families, though some schools offer calculators for internationals. The EFC is the MAXIMUM amount of need based aid you can expect to receive; however, as an international you may receive less than this amount. </p>
<p>Each school has its own policy on how it funds internationals. What you want to look for is “guarantees to meet full need” or something of that sort. This means that if the NPC says you only have to pay $15,000 you will only have to pay $15,000. But wait, there’s another however: The balance may be paid entirely in grants, or may be a combination of grants, loans and work-study.</p>
<p>Merit aid is mostly unpredictable and is based on grades, scores and life experience. Merit awards are not given in addition to need based aid. Some colleges don’t offer merit aid, period. Some LACs that I would look at for merit aid for internationals would be Grinnell, Macalester, Pitzer. Smith and Holyoke if you are female.</p>
<p>A few colleges are need-blind for internationals. This means that your financial situation will not be a factor in admissions. The amount of need, however, still depends on the EFC determined by the NPC. Merit aid isn’t offered at these schools.</p>
<p>All of this is very confusing but if you’re an international and need a substantial amount of financial aid, you have no choice but to comb through the individual colleges’ financial aid information carefully. The first step is to use the NPCs to see if need based aid works for you. If it does, then you can go on to the fine points of figuring whether the college will pay full need to internationals. </p>
<p>If the EFC is greater than $15K then you have to concentrate on schools that offer merit aid.</p>
<p>Here are pointers to colleges with relatively good aid for internationals:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2014/09/23/10-colleges-that-award-international-students-the-most-financial-aid”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2014/09/23/10-colleges-that-award-international-students-the-most-financial-aid</a>
<a href=“http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-6-need-blind-colleges-in-us-for-international-students”>http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-6-need-blind-colleges-in-us-for-international-students</a>
<a href=“http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware”>http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware</a></p>
<p>Some of the cited numbers may be a year or more out of date. For any college that interests you, check its latest Common Data Set file, section H6, for the number of international students awarded aid and the average amount.</p>
<p>Several colleges on the OP’s list (Bates, Reed, Skidmore) are also in the “Desperate Guide” top 25. Carleton is not, but according to its 2012-13 CDS, granted aid to 79 international students that year, averaging $32,776. According to Wesleyan’s 2013-14 CDS, it granted aid to 80 international students, averaging $54,774. I believe the number of students refers to all undergrads, not just freshmen. </p>
<p>These are interesting lists but I think they may be a bit misleading because they don’t differentiate between need based aid and merit aid. </p>
<p>If the OP qualifies for need based aid, her chances of getting it from a need-only international friendly school are good. S/he can apply to a wide range of schools.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if his/her family’s EFC comes out a lot higher than $15K then the need-only schools – like Wesleyan and all 6 of the “need-blind-for-internationals” – won’t work. S/he’ll need to find schools that both offer merit aid and are friendly to internationals, which is a much narrower list.</p>