What is need-blind and need-aware Financial Aid?
(Note: This question was asked at a presentation I made at the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce in Chennai, December 2019.)

Financial aid is a monetary grant awarded by private and liberal arts colleges to students who need financial support to pursue their degrees.

Need-blind colleges/universities are those colleges that do not consider an applicant's ability to pay for their education as a factor in the admission decision. In other words, a candidate's financial need will not be taken into consideration when deciding to admit, waitlist, or reject an applicant for admission.

Need-aware colleges/universities are those colleges that do consider an applicant's ability to pay for their education as a factor in the admission decision. In other words, a candidate's financial need will be taken into consideration when deciding to admit, waitlist, or reject an applicant for admission.

These are the list of universities/colleges in the U.S. which are need-blind for admission of international students:
1) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2) California Institute of Technology (only in the regular decision)
3) Amherst College
4) Harvard University
5) Yale University
6) Princeton University