University financial aid question? I'm an international student, so I don't know much

[Cantthinkofone]

I am sorry in advance if this question seems stupid or obvious...I really don't know much about this. OK, so I am going to be applying to universities in the U.S this fall/winter as an international student. I will require financial aid at least to cover the whole tuition. My family's financial situation makes me eligible for need-based aid and my academic record makes me eligible for merit-based aid. My question is, if I am applying to a uni that's offering both of these to international students can I apply to both at the same time?

[Nazo]

I think that it would be best to contact the universities you are applying to, since they sometimes have different policies. I don't really know how international financial aid works.

[Raeil]

Most of the time, if you apply for both, universities will consider both. As Nazo said, though, the best thing is to contact the different universities through phone or email and ask them directly (or search their websites).

Also, you might consider asking what happens if you apply for and receive both. For me, I am allowed a maximum of 22K per year (tuition + room and board + books + 1K for spending), and if my Merit Based Aid goes down, my Need Based Aid increases to offset the decrease in funding.

[thedreamwatch]

I agree with Nazo, you should most definitely contact the university's financial aid office and see what they have to say. Different schools do things differently and I don't really know enough to tell you how to apply for any kind of aid if you're not a US resident/citizen.

But I'm sure you'll be able to have both need and merit based aid. A lot of schools/places assess both of those things together when doling out aid, just like Raeil said in his post.

[Dan82]

International students aren’t eligible for any federal or state aid. If you’re an undocumented immigrant you might be eligible for aid in some states. For the most part you’ll have to rely on institutional aid. What country are you from; if you’re from a developing country there might be some programs available.

[Cantthinkofone]

thanks to everyone for responding I will contact the universities like you said before applying and see. I couldn't find the answers on the websites directly when I looked but I'll write to them (and hope I just didn't miss some very fine print at the bottom of a page...things tend to get kind of blurry when you've been clicking through financial aid website after website for over 4 hours).

Originally Posted by Raeil

Most of the time, if you apply for both, universities will consider both. As Nazo said, though, the best thing is to contact the different universities through phone or email and ask them directly (or search their websites).

Also, you might consider asking what happens if you apply for and receive both. For me, I am allowed a maximum of 22K per year (tuition + room and board + books + 1K for spending), and if my Merit Based Aid goes down, my Need Based Aid increases to offset the decrease in funding.

I wasn't very clear on how that worked, so thanks for explaining xD That's deffinitely good to know.

yeah I'm from and living in a developing country, which helps if there are scholarship programs in place for a particular region or just developing countries in general but those are few and far in between. Yes I'm aware that I can't apply for state or federal grants which make up a large part of the need-based aid (I'd gladly work but I can't do that either) so in some cases I'll only be able to go for merit scholarships. (also unfortunately many of the universities with need-blind admission and extensive institutional financial aid programs tend to be the more competitive ones).
Being a broke prospective international undergrad is a little stressful