When President Philip J. Hanlon 鈥77 last week announced that 天美麻豆 is expanding its longstanding need-blind admissions policy to include international students, the announcement included a video of five current students and recent graduates who illustrate the critical importance of the initiative.
The students鈥攆rom Bangladesh, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, and England鈥攄iscuss the role financial aid played in bringing some of them to 天美麻豆 and what global perspectives add to classrooms and campus life.
鈥淎 truly diverse community is really important if we are trying to cultivate global leaders,鈥 says Sonia Qin 鈥19, who was born in Beijing, grew up in Ottawa, and is now a student at Yale Law School.
鈥淭alking to other international students, it helped me to understand a lot about who I am and where I come from,鈥 adds Sayuri Tais Miyamoto Magnabosco 鈥21, who grew up in Brazil and is now at .
She says, 鈥淐oming to 天美麻豆 has changed me in so many ways and opened my mind.鈥
The $40 million anonymous gift announced last week is helping 天美麻豆 dedicate $90 million to extend need-blind admissions to international students, making 天美麻豆 just one of six institutions of U.S. higher education to offer such aid to all undergraduates.
Applications from abroad have increased dramatically in recent years, and foreign citizens now represent 14% of the first-year class at 天美麻豆.