Stanford, Calif. – Stanford University is planning to offer financial aid to international undergraduate students – an expensive and ambitious move that would open up a whole world, literally, of new applicants.
“We live in a global environment,” said Richard Shaw, Stanford’s dean of admissions and financial aid. “The idea that we can bring together the best students, domestically and from around the world, to help solve our most complicated global challenges – that is very exciting.”
Stanford does not yet know how much the plan will cost or how soon it will be implemented.
Because the student body won’t grow in size, the expansion of the applicant pool could turn up the heat on Stanford’s already ultra-competitive admissions process.
But the campus will benefit from the presence of more students from far-flung corners of the world, many from nations with precarious economies, said university officials.
“These students are able to share their cultural perspectives in the classroom,” said Karen Cooper, director of Stanford’s financial aid office.
“Many will go back and be true leaders in their countries and implement change,” she said. “They come at their learning with a very different attitude than domestic students.”
Most of the international students now enrolled at Stanford must pay their own way – about $45,000 a year. This has limited the number and type of students who can attend the university.
Only a small number of privately funded scholarships are now available for international students, supporting 25 of the 100 international students in each class.
Unlike American citizens and legal permanent residents, international students do not qualify for federal and state grants and loans.
