Financial Aid Regardless of citizenship, applicants are reviewed in the context and country where they attend high school. In addition, Stanford is committed to meeting demonstrated financial need for all admitted students (regardless of citizenship) who have requested financial aid during the application process.

If you are not a U.S. citizen or U.S. legal permanent resident, your request for financial aid will be a factor in our admission evaluation. Because of the limited financial aid resources available to international citizens, Stanford can offer admission with financial aid to just a small number of international citizens each year. International citizens who indicate on their applications that they will not be applying for financial aid and subsequently are admitted are not eligible to apply for financial aid at any time during their four years at Stanford.

http://admission.stanford.edu/application/international/

Quoting from above: "Stanford is committed to meeting demonstrated financial need for all admitted students (regardless of citizenship) who have requested financial aid during the application process."

Applying as an international student, requiring financial aid is a factor in determining admission (so your application will be put into a separate pool of candidates). Now, the hard part is actually getting into the school. With an acceptance rate at 5.1%, already about 95% of applicants get rejected. If you're an international student, and you need financial aid, you're probably looking at an acceptance rate closer to 1-2%. However, if you can get in, your financial needs will be met, regardless of citizenship.

There are a few need blind schools that don't discriminate international students if they require financial aid. Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and MIT do this. I applied to Harvard as an international student, and right now, I am not paying anything to go to school.

But again, getting in is the hard part.