In a new post at the Cornell Daily Sun, Sofia Hu writes about the problem of international diversity and the plight of foreign students to receive financial aid.

Students Allege Cornell International Diversity Lacking

Undergraduate international students are not as economically diverse as domestic students — partially because of a lack of financial aid available to them — students say.

International students make up approximately 10 percent of the undergraduate population and 19.5 percent of all enrolled students, according to the International Students and Scholars Office.

However, international students do not have the same access to financial aid as domestic students do, according to Enrico Bonatti ’14, international liaison at-large for the Student Assembly and president of International Students Board.

Because Cornell is a land-grant institution, there are government restrictions on how the endowment can be used to financially support undergraduate international students, according to Bonatti.

As a result, not every international student who demonstrates financial need is funded, according to Shivang Tayal ’16 — incoming S.A. international liaison at-large.

“Cornell’s policy does not allow international transfer students and upperclassmen non-financial aid international students to apply for aid,” Tayal said. “[According] to Cornell’­s policy, while admitted international students must demonstrate financial need to be eligible for financial aid, not all international students who demonstrate need will be funded. While 50 percent of 2012-13 full time undergraduates received need-based financial aid from Cornell, the figure for internationals remains much lower.”

Further down comes this key line.

“My teachers in China discourage us to apply for financial aid [because our applications would be turned down anyway],” Yixuan Zhang ’17 said. “[As a result,] few of us applied for financial aid. Our parents are aware of this and are ready to pay.”

If your parents are “ready to pay” why would you need financial aid?


 
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