Need-blind admission
Need-blind admission is a term used in the United States denoting a college admission policy in which an institution does not consider an applicant's financial situation when deciding admission. This policy generally increases the proportion of admitted students needing financial aid and often requires the institution to back the policy with an ample endowment or other sources of funding. Being need-blind is a statutory requirement for institutions to participate in an antitrust exemption granted by Congress which remains in effect until September 30, 2022.[1] An institution may be need-blind in any given year by policy (de jure) or by circumstances (de facto).
Most colleges and universities cannot afford to offer adequate financial aid to all admitted students; some are not need-blind while others admit students on a need-blind basis but do not offer them sufficient aid to meet their full demonstrated financial need. In addition, many schools that admit domestic first-year students without regard to need do not extend this policy to international or transfer students. Schools that are need-blind and meet full need for all applicants are usually very selective as they tend to receive more applications than other schools.
Institutions set their own definition of meeting the full demonstrated need. There is no universal standard that an institution must abide by to claim that it meets full demonstrated need. Additionally, some institutions meet full demonstrated need entirely through grants, merit scholarships, and/or talent scholarships, whereas others include loans that need to be repaid and/or work-study directly at the college campus in addition to the other forms of financial aid. For these reasons, an admitted student's financial aid package can vary significantly at different schools that all claim to meet full demonstrated need.
U.S. institutions that are need-blind and meet full demonstrated need for both U.S. and international students[]
There are currently only eight U.S. higher education institutions that are need-blind towards all applicants, seven of which meet full demonstrated need for all applicants, including international students.[2] These are:
- Amherst College[3]
- Curtis Institute of Music
- Harvard University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology[4]
- Princeton University[5]
- Yale University[6]
U.S. institutions that are need-blind for U.S. applicants and meet full demonstrated need for certain or all students[]
A number of U.S. institutions of higher learning both offer need-blind admissions and meet the full demonstrated need for all students but are need-aware when it comes to international student admissions. However, all admitted students will have their demonstrated need met, although in some colleges, primarily public colleges, such aid may only be offered for students who either require financial aid or are under specific geographical demographics. For instance, College of William & Mary and University of Michigan are public research universities that meet the full need of qualifying in-state students (residents of Virginia and Michigan, respectively) but don't meet the full need of out-of-state or international students. The following schools fall into this category:
- Antioch College (only students who qualify for the Pell Grant have the full need met)[7]
- Babson College (need-blind for Canadian students as well)[8]
- Barnard College (need-aware for transfer students)[9]
- Berea College (tuition-free for all students; need-based aid, family EFC, and work-study will cover other costs)[10]
- Boston College
- Bowdoin College (need-aware for transfer students)[11]
- Brandeis University (need-aware for transfer and waitlisted students)
- Brown University (need-aware for transfer students)[12]
- California Institute of Technology
- Carnegie Mellon University[13]
- Claremont McKenna College
- College of William & Mary (only in-state students have the full need met; out-of-state students get only up to 25% of the cost covered)[14]
- Columbia University[15]
- Cornell University[16]
- Dartmouth College
- Davidson College
- Denison University[17]
- Duke University[18]
- Elon University (Odyssey Scholars only)[19]
- Emory University (may not meet full need for international students)[20][21]
- Georgia Institute of Technology (typically, only low-income in-state students have the full need met; entering freshmen from specific counties of South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, or Tennessee who demonstrate financial need and are therefore qualified and selected for the Godbold Family Foundation Scholarship will also have 100% of their financial need covered)[22][23]
- Grinnell College[24]
- Hamilton College (need-aware for transfer students)[25]
- Harvey Mudd College[26]
- Johns Hopkins University[27]
- Lehigh University (need-aware for waitlisted students)[28][29]
- List College[30]
- Middlebury College (need-aware for transfer students and wait-listed students)
- Northwestern University (does not offer financial aid to international transfer applicants who are not U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens)
- Olin College[31]
- Pomona College[32]
- Purdue University (21st Century Scholars who are below an income level only)[33][34]
- Rice University[35]
- Soka University of America[36]
- Stanford University
- Swarthmore College
- Tulane University (only in-state first-year students below an income threshold have the full need met)[37]
- University of California, Los Angeles (only in-state students have the full need met; out-of-state students don’t receive financial aid)[38]
- University of Chicago
- University of Delaware (only in-state students have the full need met)[39]
- University of Florida (only in-state students have the full need met)[40]
- University of Georgia (through HOPE and other scholarships)[41]
- University of Michigan (need-blind for in-state students only; only in-state students have the full need met)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill[42]
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Pennsylvania (need-blind for Mexican and Canadian students as well)[43]
- University of Richmond (need-aware for transfer students)[44]
- University of Southern California[45]
- University of Virginia[46]
- University of Wisconsin - Madison (only in-state students who qualify for the Pell Grant have the full need met)[47]
- Vanderbilt University (need-aware for waitlisted students)
- Vassar College (need-aware for transfer students)[48][49]
- Wake Forest University
- Wellesley College
- Williams College
U.S. institutions that are not need-blind for U.S. applicants and meet full demonstrated need for certain or all students[]
Many reputable institutions that once championed need-blind policies have modified their policies due to rising costs as well as subpar endowment returns. Such institutions include prestigious colleges that do not offer merit-based aid but promise to meet 100% of financial need (mostly through grants). These stated institutions refer to themselves as "need-aware" or "need-sensitive," with policies that detract from their ability to admit and educate all qualified candidates but allow them to meet the full need of all admitted students who qualify for financial aid (many institutions extend this policy to all students).[50]
For instance, at Macalester College, Mount Holyoke College and Smith College, at least 95% of students are admitted without financial need being a factor, but a slim percentage, generally students who are waitlisted or who have borderline qualifications, are reviewed in consideration of the college's projected financial resources. All three colleges grant all admitted students financial aid packages meeting 100% of need.[51] At Wesleyan University, attempted shifts to a "need-aware" admission policy have resulted in protests by the school's student body.[52]
Some institutions only meet the full need for students who are domestic US residents and/or are eligible for US federal financial aid, as proven by the applicant's FAFSA and CSS profile. A few only meet the full need of students under specific demographics who are considered "economically disadvantaged" and may not be guaranteed to meet the full need of other students. Do note that some colleges don't state their financial aid admissions policy, so they're sorted into the need-aware category. The following schools fall into this category:
- Alma College (Detroit high school students only)[53]
- American University (may not meet full need for transfer students)[54]
- Aquinas College (3.4 GPA and an SAT score of 1100 or ACT equivalent or higher required)[55]
- Bard College (only for historically economically disadvantaged in-state first-year students)[56]
- Bates College
- Boston University (may not meet full need for international students)[57]
- Bryn Mawr College
- California State University, Long Beach[58]
- Carleton College
- Case Western Reserve University
- Colby College
- Colgate University
- College of the Holy Cross[59]
- Colorado College
- Connecticut College[60]
- DePauw University (in-state students seeking financial aid only)[61]
- Dickinson College[62]
- Franklin and Marshall College
- George Washington University (lower-income first-year students of the District of Columbia who qualify for the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant only)[63]
- Gettysburg College (select academically excelling, underrepresented minority, first-generation, first-year students only as part of the Gettysburg College STEM Scholars program)[64]
- Haverford College[65]
- Hendrix College (3.6 GPA and an ACT score of 26 or higher or an SAT score of 1230 or higher required)[66]
- Hobart and William Smith Colleges (early decision applicants only)[67]
- Kenyon College
- Lafayette College[68]
- Macalester College
- Mount Holyoke College
- National University of Natural Medicine[69]
- Northeastern University (may not meet full need for international students)[70]
- Oberlin College
- Occidental College
- Ohio State University (only in-state students who qualify for the Pell Grant have the full need met)[71]
- Ohio Wesleyan University (Charles Thomas Scholars only)[72]
- Pitzer College
- Reed College
- Saint Joseph's University (select underrepresented students only as part of the STEM^2 Scholarship Program)[73]
- Sewanee: The University of the South[74]
- Scripps College
- Skidmore College[75]
- Smith College
- St. Olaf College[76]
- Thomas Aquinas College
- Stonehill College (Cathedral High School (Boston) graduates only) [77]
- Trinity College
- Trinity University (only for San Antonio Independent School District students)[78]
- Tufts University[79]
- Union College
- University of Miami[80]
- University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh public high school valedictorians and salutatorians as part of the Pittsburgh Public Scholars program only)[81]
- University of Puget Sound (Tacoma public high school students only)[82]
- University of Rochester[83]
- Washington & Jefferson College (only in-state students who are eligible for the Pennsylvania State Grant, and have a 3.7+ GPA plus an SAT score of 1200 or an ACT score of 27)[84]
- Washington & Lee University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Wesleyan University
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester public high school students eligible for the Pell Grant as part of the Great Minds/Compass Scholars Program only)[85]
U.S. institutions that are need-blind for U.S. applicants and don't guarantee meeting full demonstrated need[]
Some schools have a need-blind admissions policy but do not guarantee to meet the full demonstrated financial need of any of the students they admit. The following schools fall under this category:
- Baylor University (meets 65% of need on average)
- Bucknell University (meets 91% of need on average)[86][87]
- Cooper Union (all admitted students receive a half-tuition scholarship)[88]
- Fordham University
- Hampshire College
- Hillsdale College
- Ithaca College
- New York University (meets 60% of need on average)
- Providence College
- Saint Louis University
- Salem College
- Santa Clara University
- Southern Methodist University (meets 85% of need on average)
- St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)[89]
- St. John's University
- St. Lawrence University
- Syracuse University (meets 93% of need on average)
- Texas Christian University (meets 66% of need on average)
- Juilliard School
- University of San Diego (meets 71% of need on average)
U.S. institutions that are need-aware and don't guarantee meeting full demonstrated need[]
The following institutions are need-aware and aren't guaranteed to meet the full need of the students they admit in any capacity:
- Abilene Christian University
- Agnes Scott College
- Allegheny College
- Auburn University
- Beloit College
- Bennington College
- Bentley University
- Berklee College of Music
- Berry College
- Bradley University
- The Catholic University of America
- Centre College
- Clark University
- Clemson University
- College of Wooster
- Creighton University
- DePaul University
- Drexel University
- Earlham College
- Emerson College
- Fairfield University
- Furman University
- Hampton University
- Hofstra University
- Howard University
- Johnson & Wales University
- Knox College
- Lawrence University (aims to soon extend a full need policy to all students)[90]
- Lewis & Clark College
- Loma Linda University
- Loyola Marymount University
- Loyola University New Orleans
- Loyola University Chicago
- Marquette University
- The New School
- Pepperdine University
- Providence College
- Quinnipiac University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Rhode Island School of Design
- Rhodes College (meets 93% of need on average)
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Rollins College
- Sarah Lawrence College
- Seton Hall University
- Southwestern University
- Spelman College
- University of Dayton
- University of Denver
- University of San Francisco
- University of California, San Diego
- University of St. Thomas
- University of Tulsa
- Villanova University
- Wabash College
- Wheaton College
- Whitman College (meets 93% of need on average)
- Willamette University
- Wofford College
Non-U.S. institutions that are need-blind for all applicants[]
- New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates[91]
- Northwestern University in Qatar
- Georgetown University in Qatar
- Yale-NUS College, Singapore (formerly)[92][93]
High schools[]
As of 2020, Phillips Academy, St. Albans School, and St. Andrew's School[94] are the only American boarding high schools that have clearly stated need-blind admission policies and meet the full demonstrated need of their admitted students. Phillips Exeter Academy was "effectively need-blind" prior to the 2009 admission season but stopped the practice because of economic pressures. Roxbury Latin School, a day school in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, is also need-blind.[95]
See also[]
- 568 Group, an association of colleges practicing need-blind admission
- College admissions in the United States
- Transfer admissions in the United States
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- Student financial aid
- University and college admissions