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Comment by bequanna | Hacker News Reader

> Got a near full-tuition scholarship from a T200 public university to study undergrad in the US.

US public universities give scholarships to non citizens?

Not the large state schools, but some that don't get enough students do based on your academic profile. In FL or TX, your out-of-state tuition is removed if you get other merit scholarships above a certain amount, so it ends up compounding.

I think the taxpayers would be pleased to take the $20k I'm spending there relative to the $12k or so that's spent on my scholarship?

There's always funding available for exceptional students, regardless of where they come from.

For private schools, sure. They should be able to do whatever they want.

But public universities take tax dollars and should be accountable to taxpayers. Given how high tuition has become, I doubt most taxpayers would support academic scholarships for non citizens.

American students like going to school with people from different countries, and many undergraduate applicants look for a geographically diverse student body when choosing a school. Exceptionally good students also provide benefits to everyone around them if they take up teaching assistant or club leadership positions on campus. Alumni might give more money to their alma mater if advertising shows that the university has a “global perspective.”

It’s kind of like universities spending hundreds of millions of dollars on fitness or sports centers. The funding doesn’t make sense on paper, but students and alumni who donate money want schools to have them anyway.

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