While there is general agreement that chances for admission are higher for students who are prepared to pay the full price, there are indications that this has been even more prevalent in the past few years given economic uncertainty and rising college costs, particularly at schools without large endowments. Half of admissions officers at both public universities and a third of officers at four-year colleges were actively seeking students who could "pay full price" and did not need financial aid, according to one survey of 462 admissions directors and managers in 2011. The report suggested that full-pay students tended to have lower high school grades and test scores than other students, compared to other applicants, on average. Two other reports confirmed that public university admissions officers were actively seeking out-of-state and international students since they paid higher rates for tuition. Another report found that one in ten admissions officers had said that their college admitted full-pay students despite their having lower average grades and test scores. Reports vary about whether the financial neediness of applicants impacts admissions chances; one suggested that applicants with strong academic credentials or talents are more likely to get financial aid, but that depending on the college, "borderline admits" needing money were most vulnerable; a second report was that "colleges like rich students". George Washington University, despite claiming to have need blind admissions, was more likely to waitlist financially needy applicants, according to one report. One view was that financial aid depends on how a specific student compares with other students:
What this means is that your financial aid package from a reach college may not be as attractive as the package from one of your target, or well matched, colleges. If you are looking for generous scholarship aid, you need to look at colleges and universities where your academic profile is strong compared to that of the average admitted student.
-- Hannah Serota, college counselor
By contrast, other schools practice need-blind admission.