The answer to whether Stanford University is need-blind may shock you — unless you’re a loyal reader of our college admissions blog, in which case you’ll receive the truth with little more than a shrug of your shoulders. Stanford, along with the vast majority of highly selective universities in America, actually considers your financial need when deciding whether to admit you. But they’re not the worst offender of this practice — far from it. You’ve come to the right place to learn the truth about how Stanford weighs the financial needs of applicants — both what they want you to know and what they’d rather you didn’t!

Stanford is Need-Aware, But They Have the Means Not to Be

Here’s the main point: Stanford is not need-blind. Unlike most of its prestigious counterparts, Stanford does not inquire about your financial need on their application, and we at Ivy Coach commend them for it! When a college claims to be need-blind, we often see through their hypocrisy, especially when they ask about financial need on their application. Stanford, however, is different. Their substantial endowment, which currently stands at a staggering $36.5 billion thanks to the generosity of huge benefactors like Nike co-founder Phil Knight, has given them the freedom to pay less attention to financial needs when considering applicants.

Notice that we say less attention. The fact of the matter is that Stanford is still need-aware. They wouldn’t be able to cover the financial aid of all admitted students if they weren’t. We at Ivy Coach have not abandoned our mission of speaking truth to power in elite college admissions. So we’re not letting this hypocrisy slide, even if it is a lesser evil than the schools that routinely reject applicants who need full rides. Let’s look at the language Stanford uses to refer to their “need-blind” admissions process.

Is Stanford Really Need-Blind for International Students? The Truth Behind the Claim

“Meeting the cost of an undergraduate education is a significant investment. At Stanford, we are committed to providing a comprehensive need-based financial aid program that makes it financially possible for admitted students to attend. Our admission program is need-blind, meaning, for all but some international applicants, financial status will not affect the admission decision.” 

This is how Stanford Financial Aid presents it on its website. While we appreciate their honesty about being need-aware for international applicants, we wish they would also acknowledge that the same is true for domestic applicants, albeit to a lesser extent. They continue to mislead on their Undergraduate Admission website:

“Stanford is need-blind for all U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, and undocumented students regardless of where they attend high school. This means a request for financial aid will not be a factor in our admission evaluation.” We think not.

What You Can Do To Improve Your Case for Admission to Stanford

We’d be happy to outline the many things you can do to optimize your case for admission to Stanford. Ivy Coach’s Jose Magaña, a former Stanford admissions officer, works one-on-one with our clients to develop a singular admissions hook that knocks Stanford’s socks off. If you want to get started with Jose, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll get in touch with an outline of our services.

In the meantime, the best advice we can offer is this: if you don’t need financial aid, don’t apply for it. This is especially true if you don’t qualify for aid, which you can determine online through Stanford’s Quick College Cost Estimator. When our clients at Ivy Coach ask us about seeking financial aid, we always give them our honest opinion. So don’t be surprised if we tell you that  “if you can afford our services, you can afford the full cost of tuition.” Don’t apply for aid. It will significantly hurt your child’s case for admission. Financial aid is for students who absolutely need the money to subsidize their college educations.