Lesser Known LAC's with generous fin aid to internationals?

College Search & Selection
1

I know about Amherst, Williams and other well known LAC’s. I like to know if any other LAC’s offer Need based aid to internationals?

2

Try Earlham or Clark. Not sure about the mix of merit/need based aid but I have seen reports here of international students getting good financial packages from both.

3

Over the years I’ve known a bunch of kids who got good $ at Macalester, Grinnell, Vassar, Hamilton, and Wooster

4

Many LACs offer need based aid to internationals. These guarantee to meet full need, meaning if you get accepted and can demonstrate that you need X amount to the college’s satisfaction, then you will get X amount.
Amherst, Colby, Davidson, Grinnell, Hamilton, Haverford, Macalester, Middlebury, Pitzer, Pomona, Reed, Rhodes, Swarthmore, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Williams

In addition these LACs offer merit scholarships to internationals. Merit aid can be unpredictable, though, and may not be as “generous” as you need.
Babson, Bard, Carleton, CMC, Clark, Davidson, Dickinson, Grinnell, Harvey Mudd, Kenyon, Mt. Holyoke, Rhodes, Scripps, Smith, Trinity U, Wooster

I’m sure there are others that can be added to these lists, but that’s a start.

5

In addition:
Washington & Lee
Colgate
Bates
U of Richmond
Lafayette
Bucknell
Colorado College
Connecticut College
Skidmore
Union
St. John’s College

There are many liberal arts schools offering strong financial aid to international students.

6

I think one thing that needs to be factored in here is need-awareness; lots of colleges are generous with aid, or claim to meet 100% of need once you are admitted. But, you have to look behind that and ask, how many internationals with financial need are actually admitted? Wesleyan is unusual in that it admits quite candidly that for internationals the rate is in the single digits.

7

I’ll be straight with you - it is difficult for international applicants.

Amherst College is the only LAC that is both need-blind in admissions to international applicants and promises full need will be covered for all students who are accepted. The only other schools of any type that do both those things are Harvard, Yale, Princeton and MIT.

There are reasons for this, and they are not as simple as discrimination against foreigners. There is a limited amount of aid to go around, and it is almost impossible for the schools to factually verify claims of financial need from overseas in the way that they can verify the actual financial status of American families.

So, some LACs may provide full aid to everyone who gets in, but will only take a small handful of international students who need that sort of aid - just the superstar applicants, really.

Other LACs will accept international applicants strictly on merit, but won’t give most of them enough financial aid to make it possible actually to attend. That can be a bitter pill.

You almost have to apply to find out what will happen to you in particular, because the net price calculators at each school tend to be wildly inaccurate for international applicants.

8

@LILDWAYNE, You need to quantify “generous.” There are quite a few LACs that will offer either need-based or merit aid to internationals in the range of USD10,000 to 20,000 per year. If, however, you need substantial aid – USD40,000 and up per year – then your chances become a lot more random.

How much do you need?