I am an international student (originally from Brazil) and I would like to know the universities that offer FULL RIDE or NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIP FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS. It’s my main criterion, but I don’t think it’s clear about the availability of this feature on college websites. Thank you very much in advance for your help.
It’s a small and competitive group.
Of course it is on the college websites.
When you get to the college website, you put “international student financial aid” in the search function.
Without knowing YOUR stats (GPA, test scores, etc)…it would be a shot in the dark to recommend any schools.
Does your family qualify for need based aid?
Here are the colleges that are BOTH need blind for admissions for international students and guarantee to meet full need for all international students.
Amherst College
Harvard University
Bowdoin College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Brown University *beginning in 2025
Princeton University
Dartmouth College
Yale University
These colleges above don’t consider your financial need when reviewing your application for admission…AND meet full need for international students. They are highly competitive for admissions…and even MORE highly competitive for international students with acceptance rates in the single digits.
You might qualify for merit aid…but without knowing your stats, no suggestions.
For international students…you will see a number of options for aid on the website.
- College does not provide any kind of financial aid to international students.
- College provides limited financial aid to international students.
- Colleges provide need based aid to all international students.
- Colleges provide only merit aid to international students.
- Colleges are need aware for admissions meaning your level of financial need is a consideration when applying.
There are other things too…but these are clearly noted in “international student financial aid” on the college websites.
A few questions.
- What can your parents contribute annually to your college costs?
- Are you looking also at colleges in your home country?
ETA…what is likely unclear on the websites is if YOU will qualify for especially merit aid awards because most of those are NOT guaranteed awards.
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The website @TonyGrace provided is a start. But keep in mind…students might receive full rides at other schools. There just aren’t any guarantees this will happen if you are admitted….unless you qualify for a full ride need based award…or you have the stats for automatic full ride merit…or you are fortunate enough to be competitive and are selected for a full ride merit award.
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The issue is that the US colleges have become so expensive, and so many families cannot afford the colleges, so everyone is asking for help with funding. Colleges are on budgets. They reserve their finite funds for students who they truly think will fit their schools.
There are thousands of students, both domestic and international, asking for the limited funds available, to attend their universities. The issue with giving an international student funding, is that the universities cannot use any US government resources (loans, grants) for a non-resident, so it makes the financial aid package come from the university’s limited budget.
The universities “spread the wealth” and give some funding, but not full rides because the money just isn’t there.
Each website will tell you exactly what they provide in funding for international students.
Please understand the term NEED BLIND. This means that when the university looks at your admission application, they wont know whether or not you are asking for funding to attend.
They just review the application.
it will be evaluated by being “BLIND” to whether or not you NEED funding to attend.
If you’ve checked the box indicating that you need funding, that information goes to the Financial Aid offices of the universities. They have to prepare a “financial aid” package for anyone who has checked the box. They find out later, who has been admitted, and send that information out to the student.
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You should not limit your search to need blind only schools. There are more schools than on that list linked above that meet full need for internationals…it is on the school websites. If you really really can’t find it, it’s ok to contact your AO. Note that the school determines how it calculates your need. Many students are surprised to find out they won’t receive as much financial aid as they were expecting. You also have to budget for travel to/from school, incidentals, books, etc.
It is very competitive for internationals to receive funding, students generally need to be in the top few from their country and/or meet some type of institutional priority.
When you say originally from Brazil, do you not live there now? Are you attending HS in the US? Elsewhere?
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I suggest a slightly different approach. First figure out how much you can afford to pay. If it is over $12K per year then there are options one can explore. If it is less than that, you already have a list to go by above.
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