A Guide to Need-Blind Schools + Complete List
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.  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:      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.  Adrian College Amherst College Babson College Barnard College Baylor University Biola University Boston College Boston University Bowdoin College Brandeis University Brown University Cal Poly San Luis Obispo California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Carnegie Mellon University Chapman University Claremont McKenna College Columbia University Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art 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 Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Georgetown University Grinnell College Hamilton College Harvard University Harvey Mudd College Haverford College Hiram College Jewish Theological Seminary Johns Hopkins University Julliard Kenyon College Lawrence University Lehigh University Lewis & Clark College Marist College Marlboro College Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Middlebury College Mills College Mount St. Mary’s College New York University (NYU) North Carolina State University (NCSU) North Central College Northeastern University Northwestern University Penn State Pomona College Princeton University Providence College Randolph College Rice University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) Salem College San Jose State University (SJSU) Soka University of America St. John’s College St. Olaf College Stanford University 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 California – Los Angeles (UCLA) 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 at Chapel Hill 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 University School of Medicine Wellesley College Wesleyan University Williams College Yale University Yeshiva University   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 EFC, or expected family contribution. EFC 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 EFCs generally receive more aid than those with higher EFCs. If a gap exists between EFC and what the college is willing to pay, students may have to apply for scholarships, or take out loans to make up the difference.   To learn more about financing a college degree, check out our blog posts:  No-loan Colleges: What They Are and a Complete List Schools that Meet 100% of Demonstrated Financial Need This Family Got an Additional $11k/Year in Merit Aid—Here’s How What Does it Really Cost to Attend Harvard?  Curious about your chances of acceptance to your dream school? Our free chancing engine takes into account your GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and other data to predict your odds of acceptance at over 500 colleges across the U.S. We’ll also let you know how you stack up against other applicants and how you can improve your profile. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account today to get started!
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What Is the Difference Between Schools That Meet 100% of Demonstrated Need and Need-Blind Schools?
List of Need-Blind Schools
What Else Do You Need to Know About Financial Aid When Applying to College?
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