Wassup potential US scholars and laureates here is a guide that oultlines sources of funding and how to get it
In the US, there are two methods of getting financial aid. The first method is through merit scholarships and the second is through NEED-based scholarships.
What are Merit Based Scholarships?
Merit based scholarships are mainly determined by test scores on the SAT and/or the ACT. These tests are NOT equivalent to A-Levels and thus won't be substituted by them either. Generally, less prestigious private and some public universities provide these kinds of scholarships. The amount awarded is dependant on the university and can range from a few thousand dollars to a potential "free ride" (which covers your whole tuition and in some places your accommodation as well)
What are Need-Based scholarships?
Need based scholarships are dependant on your family's ability to pay. In that you have to file an application for financial aid to the school which contains your family's finances. This in turn is used to calculate an Expected Family Contribution, a number that the school deems your parents are able to pay towards the cost of the school. The outstanding amount will be paid for by the school in what is called a financial aid package; dependant on the school this package may or may not contain loans.
What do "Full Need" and "Need Blind" mean?
The universities that provide this kind of aid to international students are usually the most competitive to gain admission at. Places like: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, MIT and are considered need blind and full NEED met so they don't factor your ability to pay into the admission decision and if admitted they promise to meet your full need (again which is your calculated EFC minus the cost of attendance) Cornell is also need blind to all applicants but it is not full need in the sense that some people maybe offered a place without any financial aid largely due to limited funds that are available to international students
What does "Need Aware" mean?
There are other institutions that award aid to international students. These are namely called need aware schools. This doesn't mean they can't offer you any aid no on the contrary it just means there are limited amounts of aid available for internationals. The reason they are called need aware is because they factor your ability to pay into the admission decisions. Strong schools like Stanford, UPenn, Northwestern are need aware but have the ability to give out large financial aid packages but you need to be of the very best caliber to get admitted.
What if I'm not the next Einstein can I still afford a U.S. degree?!?!?
Why YES!!! There are institutions in the U.S. called liberal arts colleges. No they are not sixth form colleges or vocational colleges. They are just smaller institutions that focus on undergraduate education. They will typically have 1,000 to 5.000+ students and have very small class sizes which indicates more attention from professors. Liberal arts colleges will be more willing to add to their diversity by giving international students aid.
Top liberal arts colleges like Amherst, Williams, Middlebury are perceived as the little Ivy League; they are just as competitive to gain admission to but give substantial amounts of aid.
Other well respected LACs are:
Bryn Mawr, Harvey Mudd (for engineering and science), Vassar, Carleton, Colby, Mount Holyoke (for girls), Claremont McKenna and many many more!
**if you didn't know all of these names end in "college" like : Harvey Mudd College
****Could a Mod please sticky this thread for easy access thanks!