First-year international students in the class of 2029, the first cohort admitted under a need-blind paradigm, are more socioeconomically diverse than preceding classes, data from The Herald’s First-Year Poll suggests.
The need-blind policy, which domestic applications have been evaluated under since 2003, ensures that “applicants’ ability to pay for their education will not be a determining factor in the admission decision,” according to Brown’s financial aid office.
The University announced the expansion of need-blind to international applicants in 2021. It was implemented during the last application cycle after the University raised $120 million to fund the initiative.
Only nine other U.S. colleges currently offer a need-blind admissions policy for international students, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 said in her convocation speech for the class of 2029.
While Brown’s official admissions data has yet to be released, The Herald’s First-Year Poll, which is based on responses from about 45% of the incoming class, suggests the percentage of international first-year students on financial aid and from low-income backgrounds have increased.
Nearly 55% of international students in the class of 2029 received financial aid, compared with only 35% of those in the class of 2028. The percentage of international students with a household income of less than $60,000 also rose — from 25% for the class of 2028 to 31% for the class of 2029.
But other metrics show less change. According to the poll, there was a negligible difference between this year and last in the number of first-year international students who attended a private high school, with the percentage hovering above 80%. Similarly, the percentage of first-generation international students increased from 10% in the class of 2028 to about 14% in the class of 2029.
After an initial evaluation, Ethiopian international student Fenan Megerssa ’29 was offered a financial aid package that reduced his cost of attendance to $5,000 per year. But after submitting an appeal, he was awarded a full-ride scholarship. An annual cost of $5,000 “would have been a dealbreaker,” Megerssa said.
Attending Brown gives him the unique opportunity to embrace interdisciplinary study at the intersection of biochemistry, molecular biology and entrepreneurship, he said.
“Back home in Ethiopia, we don’t get time to choose the field that we want to pursue,” Megerssa said. “That’s why I chose Brown and started looking abroad.”
He pushed back on the stereotype of wealthy international students, adding that, “on the other end of the spectrum, (there are people) who are being aided to study here, coming from third-world countries to pursue prestigious education.”
In an email to The Herald, Students for Educational Equity Co-President Breana Alcantara ’27 wrote that she believes the need-blind policy is a “necessary” part of promoting socioeconomic diversity at Brown. Alcantara also urged the University to recognize that the overall admissions process — not just the consideration of finances in admissions — may continue to disadvantage international students from lower-income backgrounds.
Still, “many students pursuing higher education may be breaking a cycle of poverty, contributing not only their intellect but their lived experiences” to the campus community, Alcantara wrote. “Both in the short- and long-term, promoting socioeconomic diversity in higher education opens up a world of innovation.”
