Bijal Luhar February 12, 2023 4 College Lists,Financial Aid

A Guide to Need-Blind Schools + Complete List

What’s Covered:

• Schools Meeting 100% of Demonstrated Need vs. Need-Blind Schools
• List of Need-Blind Schools
• What Else Do You Need to Know About Financial Aid?

Just because a student is qualified doesn’t mean they’ll get into their dream school. Colleges base their decisions on many factors, from grades to fit to letters of recommendation. Unfortunately, some colleges also base their decision on a student’s ability to pay tuition.

In fact, top students sometimes refrain from applying to certain schools because the ability to pay is factored into admissions decisions. According to a Kaplan survey from 2015, 25% of college admissions officers report feeling pressured to admit less-qualified applicants because of family connections. Moreover, applying for aid can actually hurt a student’s odds of acceptance. While a CNN Money article from 2016 notes that not applying for financial aid is unlikely to get you into a top college if you aren’t qualified, it can certainly boost your application.

Fortunately, not all colleges consider financial factors when deciding which students to accept. With need-blind admissions, colleges evaluate only the non-financial parts of a student’s application package, such as GPA, test scores, essays, and letters of recommendation. In some cases, this policy applies only to U.S. applicants, but some colleges use need-blind admissions for international students as well.

What Is the Difference Between Schools That Meet 100% of Demonstrated Need and Need-Blind Schools?

A need-blind school isn’t necessarily committed to meeting 100% of students’ demonstrated financial need. In other words, a student may be accepted to a need-blind college, but have to turn down the admissions offer due to inability to pay. That said, many need-blind schools are also known for their generous financial aid programs.

Even if colleges practice need-blind admissions and meet 100% of demonstrated need, they may still include loans as part of their financial aid packages. Schools with the most generous financial aid will often be no-loan, need-blind, and meet 100% of demonstrated need. To recap, here are the definitions of these three financial aid policies:

• No-loan schools offer students financial assistance through grants and scholarships, not federal student loans.

• Need-blind schools make admissions decisions without considering a student’s financial circumstances or ability to pay tuition.

• Schools that meet 100% of demonstrated need ensure accepted students receive sufficient grants, scholarships, and in some cases federal loans to attend.

List of Need-Blind Schools

The following schools have a need-blind policy when evaluating applicants. It’s worth noting that not all the schools on this list also meet 100% of students’ demonstrated need and are no-loan.

What Else Do You Need to Know About Financial Aid When Applying to College?

Students applying to need-blind institutions still need to submit their FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Colleges will use this information to calculate an individual’s SAI, or Student Aid Index. SAI is based on an array of factors, including family size, income, assets, benefits, and whether or not there are other family members in college.

Students with lower SAIs generally receive more aid than those with higher SAIs. If a gap exists between the student’s aid package as determined by SAI and what the college is willing to pay, students may have to apply for scholarships, or take out loans to make up the difference.

Curious about how financial aid you’ll receive, use our financial aid calculator that allows you estimate the price of college with a cost calculator!