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“Need Blind Admission” means that a student’s financial situation will not be taken into consideration when deciding to admit, wait-list, or deny an applicant. In other words, the student’s ability to pay for a college education is not a factor in whether or not they get in. Students are only reviewed based on their merit—GPA, class rank, test scores, essays, accolades, interviews, etc.
What does that mean for your application?
While reviewing your application, the admissions team won’t be looking at FAFSA forms, financial information, or financial need requests. Many students prefer need-blind schools because—while it doesn’t necessarily increase their odds of admission—it does eliminate the potential of being rejected purely on a financial need basis.
Need blind schools award a lot of financial aid
Need-blind schools often offer substantial financial aid packages for their students who are in financial-need—however, it does not necessarily mean they’ll fully meet an applicant’s demonstrated need. In fact, it’s possible for need-blind schools to admit students that ultimately can’t attend because the is too high for their situation. Most universities can’t offer financial aid to every single one of their students; those schools that do, are typically highly selective and very difficult to get into.
Need blind doesn’t mean everyone
A college listed as need-blind admission doesn’t necessarily mean it admits every type of student on a need-blind basis. They may be need-blind for all first-time, domestic (US-based) applicants, but may not for international students, transfer students, or wait-listed students. Of course, some schools may be need-blind for domestic and transfers, but not international or wait-listed students. It varies from school to school.
Need sensitive or need-aware
If a school doesn’t have need blind admissions, it’s need-sensitive (or need-aware). Need-sensitive colleges will consider the financial need of a student while reviewing their application. Need-sensitive schools tend to look for a diverse class, and so have programs in place to help low-income students pay for tuition and other costs.
Need-Blind Schools in America:
| Adrian College | ||||
| Amherst College | ||||
| Babson College | ||||
| Barnard College | ||||
| Baylor University | ||||
| Biola University | ||||
| Boston College | ||||
| Boston University | ||||
| Bowdoin College | ||||
| Brandeis University | ||||
| Brown University | ||||
| California Institute of Technology | ||||
| Cal Poly San Luis Obispo | ||||
| Carnegie Mellon University | ||||
| Chapman University | ||||
| Claremont McKenna College | ||||
| Columbia University | ||||
| Cooper Union | ||||
| Cornell College | ||||
| Cornell University | ||||
| Dartmouth College | ||||
| Davidson College | ||||
| Denison University | ||||
| DePaul University | ||||
| Duke University | ||||
| Elon University | ||||
| Emory University | ||||
| Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) | ||||
| Florida State University | ||||
| Fordham University | ||||
| Georgetown University | ||||
| Grinnell College | ||||
| Hamilton College | ||||
| Harvard Business School | ||||
| Harvard College | ||||
| Harvey Mudd College | ||||
| Haverford College | ||||
| Hiram College | ||||
| Holy Cross | ||||
| Jewish Theological Seminary | ||||
| Johns Hopkins University | ||||
| Julliard | ||||
| Lawrence University | ||||
| Lehigh University | ||||
| Lewis & Clark College | ||||
| Marist College | ||||
| Marlboro College | ||||
| Middlebury College | ||||
| Mills College | ||||
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | ||||
| Mount St. Mary’s College | ||||
| North Carolina State University (NCSU) | ||||
| New York University (NYU) | ||||
| North Central College | ||||
| Northeastern University | ||||
| Northwestern University | ||||
| Olin College of Engineering | ||||
| Penn State | ||||
| Pomona College | ||||
| Princeton University | ||||
| Providence College | ||||
| Randolph College | ||||
| Rice University | ||||
| Salem College | ||||
| San Jose State University (SJSU) | ||||
| Soka University of America | ||||
| St. John’s College | ||||
| St. Olaf College | ||||
| Stanford University | ||||
| State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry | ||||
| Swarthmore College | ||||
| Syracuse University | ||||
| The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) | ||||
| Thomas Aquinas College | ||||
| Trinity University | ||||
| Tufts University | ||||
| Tulane University | ||||
| University of Chicago | ||||
| University of Illinois at Chicago | ||||
| University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business | ||||
| University of Miami | ||||
| University of New Hampshire | ||||
| University of North Carolina | ||||
| University of Notre Dame | ||||
| University of Pennsylvania | ||||
| University of Richmond | ||||
| University of Rochester | ||||
| University of Southern California (USC) | ||||
| University of Vermont | ||||
| University of Virginia | ||||
| University of Washington | ||||
| Ursuline College | ||||
| Vanderbilt University | ||||
| Vassar College | ||||
| Wabash College | ||||
| Wake Forest School of Medicine | ||||
| Washington University | ||||
| Wellesley College | ||||
| Wesleyan University | ||||
| Williams College | ||||
| Yale University | ||||
| Yeshiva University |
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Interested in any of these schools? Use College Raptor’s free match tool to discover if they’re a good fit for you!
