Education Abroad - Blog Article

Many US universities provide financial aid for international students.

 Types of Financial Aid

• Grants – the primary source of aid from universities and serves as a discount on the cost of attendance
• Loans - International Students are not eligible for US Government (federal) loans but some colleges do provide institutional loans
• Work Study – you can work up 20 hours a week on campus during the school year. You will usually earn enough to cover your personal expenses at college
• Merit Based Scholarships – awarded to high achieving students, irrespective of their need for aid, to attract them to enroll at a college. These are more popular with the lesser known colleges and helps them attract the best students to enroll with them

External Sources of Financial Aid

• In addition, students may research on outside scholarships that they may be eligible for
  www.fastweb.com
  www.scholarshipexperts.com
  www.cappex.com
  www.zinch.com
  www.finaid.org
• External Bank Loans are also available from var..... Read More >>

Many US universities provide financial aid for international students.

 Types of Financial Aid

• Grants – the primary source of aid from universities and serves as a discount on the cost of attendance
• Loans - International Students are not eligible for US Government (federal) loans but some colleges do provide institutional loans
• Work Study – you can work up 20 hours a week on campus during the school year. You will usually earn enough to cover your personal expenses at college
• Merit Based Scholarships – awarded to high achieving students, irrespective of their need for aid, to attract them to enroll at a college. These are more popular with the lesser known colleges and helps them attract the best students to enroll with them

External Sources of Financial Aid

• In addition, students may research on outside scholarships that they may be eligible for
  www.fastweb.com
  www.scholarshipexperts.com
  www.cappex.com
  www.zinch.com
  www.finaid.org
• External Bank Loans are also available from various banks like HSBC, SBI, among others

Forms used for Financial Aid

• FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Assistance (Only for US Citizens, International Students not eligible)
• CSS PROFILE – Administered by College Board and is submitted online. There is a small fee attached to it. Some colleges accept this for International students. They may have additional forms in addition, or their own Institutional forms.
• ISFAA (International Student Financial Aid Application) – Offline and free. Some colleges will accept this instead of the CSS Profile.
• It is important to research the specific college requirements, as well as the deadlines for submissions
• Other documents required – Income Tax Returns, asset statement, etc, depending upon the college policy.

Students can receive up to 100% financial aid if they can prove a need for it, provided the colleges are impressed with the profile and can establish that the family needs the money to make it affordable for the student to attend their college.

How to Maximize Your Chances of Receiving Financial Aid

• Start early and be very careful to submit correct figures
• Follow the deadlines and ensure submission of all required documents
• Onus of payment is on the family – financial aid is not a right, it’s a privilege
• Strategise – you might have a better chance of receiving merit aid at a college that is a match or safety for you since it would like to ‘steal’ or ‘lure’ the candidate from a more selective college.

As mentioned earlier, financial aid is a privilege that you are being given to make it affordable for you to attend college. You have to work hard to earn it, and perform well in college to retain it. College can be made affordable – provided you are willing to put in the effort.