Reply #18: undergrads vs grads

[Bill McBlueState]

Undergraduate international students aren't generally eligible for aid, I don't think. But graduate students from other countries typically get the same tuition waivers, assistantships and benefit packages as domestic graduate students. In fact at, UMass, the graduate employees' collective bargaining agreement explicitly forbids discrimination based on national origin.

Aid from the school should be distinguished from federal aid, however. National funding agencies (the NSF and NASA in astronomy for example) typically restrict eligibility for direct aid to US citizens. Of course, a non-citizen can work for a faculty member who has a grant from one of those organizations.

The difference is that, unlike undergraduates, graduate students are considered employable "talent" because of their teaching and research skills, and schools want to do whatever they can to attract the best talent regardless of national origin.