Oberlin College

Oberlin is a liberal arts college and conservatory in Ohio that removes application barriers unusually deliberately: no application fee, no SAT or ACT required, and it will review an application without an English proficiency test if the applicant cannot afford one. Every enrolling student receives at least the USD 10,000 Oberlin Commitment Scholarship, and Oberlin states it provides grants, scholarships, loans and on-campus employment to meet 100% of calculated financial need for all international students who apply for aid. The constraint is stated with equal candour: the international financial aid budget is not unlimited, the international admission process is extremely competitive particularly for students with high financial need, and fewer than 15% of international applicants are admitted in a typical year. A student not applying for aid should expect to fund about USD 90,000 for 2026-27.