If you are an international student getting ready to spend time studying in the US, you will likely apply for an F1 visa. The F1 is for people who are not looking to immigrate to the US and who will be studying at a university or taking a language program temporarily.
While you may require financial aid in order to complete your study abroad experience, there are some things you should know if you want to work on-campus as an international student. You will be required to prove that you can financially support yourself before traveling to your program. This is because employment opportunities for F1 visa holders are very limited. However, your best opportunity for work will be on-campus. As a student, you are permitted to apply for part-time work on-campus during your course of study, and you should be able to find assistance with figuring out how to work on-campus as an international student through the International Student Office or the Office for On-Campus Employment. Be sure to check with the individual campus as each will have limits on hours you can work as a full-time student and other requirements for employment.
While you likely want to work on-campus as an international student in a particular academic area, be aware that you may not be able to find employment in your field of study. You might be able to get a job as a teaching or research assistant for a class that you are well-versed in, but more than likely your work might not relate to the subject at hand. You could work in an on-campus dining hall, as a lifeguard, or at the front desk of a residence hall, to name a few options. You will not earn enough money to pay for your tuition, food, and housing, but you will be able to help offset some costs for extras or save the money so you can go home at the end of your time with less of a bill to pay.
If you want to work on-campus as an international student, make sure that you are aware that it will only be supplemental to your finances. But, you will walk away with more than a paycheck; you will likely meet other students that you otherwise would not have gotten the chance to know. And, isn’t that the whole point of studying abroad?
IOE Fulbright Postgraduate Student Award
Deadline: October 17
Students from the US who want to continue their education in the United Kingdom at the Institute of Education University of London are now able to submit their application for the IOE Fulbright Postgraduate Student Award.
US graduates returning for their Masters degree are able to apply for this award until October 17. One individual will be granted the IOE Fulbright Postgraduate Student Award which will cover one year of tuition and a stipend for living expenses during the year of study. Eligible fields of study for the utilization of this award include music/recording arts, ESL, TESOL, international education or mathematics and education. To be eligible for this award you must meet the following requirements:
The Fulbright Program was created in 1946 after a bill was brought to congress by Senator J. William Fulbright regarding allotting funding to assist with intercultural relations.
If you would like to learn more about how to apply for the IOE Fulbright Postgraduate Student Award you are able to obtain further information here.
Before you come to study in the US, you should know what is included in your tuition – check each line item of your bill and know what it means. For most universities, tuition will only cover the courses you take. Schools charge per credit hour, so for example, if you take four courses that are worth three credits each, you will pay for twelve credits. Some universities might offer a flat rate that will remain the same no matter how many credits you take, so you could get more of a bang for your buck if you took the maximum number of credits allowed.
In addition to tuition, you will also be responsible for fees. This cost covers things like registration, student activities, on-campus transportation, and general upkeep of the campus that all students must contribute to. This expense will generally come in the form of a lump sum per semester of attendance.
Then there are living expenses such as the cost of your dorm and food. This is where the costs become variable depending on how much you want to spend. You can choose from a variety of living situations and a variety of dining hall plans, or you can just shop at the grocery store. Some universities will list the cost of a computer or clothing, but if you are bringing those things with you then you don’t have to buy them in the US.
To get the best idea of how much it would cost to attend a particular university, you should visit the admissions website and get a list of estimated costs. It is important to remember that tuition and fees are unwavering, but the school estimates everything else. Don’t be scared by the sticker price, schools usually place a higher estimate on variable costs so students will be eligible for more financial aid: if it looks like it costs more, chances are you will be offered more money.
Tuition itself is often only the beginning of what you’ll need to pay to come and study in the US, but the good news is that there are hundreds of opportunities to research that can help you find the best overall package for what you want. The first step in addressing these costs, however, is to know what is included in your tuition.
Win Free Tuition Giveaway
Deadline: December 31
Are you a US or Canadian college student trying to study abroad but in need of financial aid? If so, Next Step Magazine might be able to help you fund your studies abroad with their win free tuition giveaway.
One individual will win the award up to the amount of $10,000 that will go directly to the school which they are enrolled in. The winner is selected through a random drawing of all eligible entries that are submitted during the sweepstakes period.
To be entered into the drawing, interested students will need to submit their basic contact information to the win free tuition giveaway. This can be done either online, through a business reply card found in any NextStepU magazine or by mailing in a 3” x 5” postcard with your detailed contact information.
Do you want to study in the US but are afraid that you can’t afford it? Here are five tips to keep costs low while studying abroad in the US and ensure that your trip doesn’t empty your bank account.
These are just five tips to keep costs low while studying in the US – do you have any additional ideas? If so, let us know and share your tips on how you’ve saved money!
Pure Water Scholarship
Deadline: Ongoing
Each month the Pure Water Scholarship will grant one high school or college student $300. This scholarship was founded to assist the effort of giving individuals around the world clean water and to inspire individuals to assist with this goal.
Students from around the world can apply for this scholarship by completing the online application. The application must include the applicants contact information and a 250 word story about their ideas on how to bring clean water to people around the world and how they have personally assisted with giving others clean water in the past.
Pure Water Scholarship funds are distributed to the winner directly through their school account. Individuals applying for this scholarship must be able to show proof of enrollment in their educational institution.
Study abroad is one of the most rewarding experiences for students. After studying abroad, many students return home with memories that last a lifetime. If you don’t agree, just look at the numbers! According to the Open Doors Report, 270,604 US students studied abroad in 2009-2010. This milestone represents the largest number of US study abroad students, marking a 3.9% increase over last year. Whether the attraction is cultural immersion, learning a new language, building professional skills, or to gaining international experience, you may not be able to afford NOT to go.
So then comes the question, how do you finance your study abroad so that you can take advantage of these opportunities as well?
If you are looking to finance your study abroad, you first need to look for opportunities that are free gifts and do not require you to pay back the money. This includes scholarships and grants offered to students. Your financial aid counselors or advisors can be an enormous resource as they may be able to recommend funding options and help you budget wisely. To make sure you take advantage of all of the scholarship opportunities, you should not only contact your financial aid office, but also your study abroad office, academic department, clubs and organizations, national organizations with ties to international education, religious and civic organizations, and perhaps even places of work for you and your parents.
Once you’ve maximized your grants and scholarships, you may find that you need additional financial assistance. Stafford loans are another great way to help fund even more of the expenses. It’s important to note, however, that federal loans have limits on how much you can borrow. To put this in prospective, the maximum Stafford loan that students can borrow is $5,500.
Finally, private study abroad loans are another avenue to finance your study abroad. While you should always maximize scholarships and grants followed by federally backed loans, private student loans can also help you get the financing you need to make your study abroad a reality. If you are thinking about taking out a loan, it is important to realize that loans will need to be paid back along with interest. Consider how this debt will affect you, and develop a plan that will allow you to pay back your loan on time.
Financing your study abroad is no easy task – especially as costs can easily add up while you try to make the most of your international experience. The payoffs, however, are unquantifiable especially in this day in age where the world is interconnected no matter what career path you choose.
Nyenrode Business Universiteit Entrepreneurial Manager Scholarship
Deadline: August 31
If you have been searching for a school in the Netherlands to become an international student at that also provides a partial or full tuition waiver, you might want to start your search at the Nyenrode Business Universiteit. The Nyenrode Business Universiteit Entrepreneurial Manager Scholarship is a revolving award and is funded through alumni donation. New students who accept the scholarship are committing to donate back to the scholarship program upon graduation.
The Nyenrode Business Universiteit Entrepreneurial Manager Scholarship is provided to students in one of three provisions as specified by the University:
If you would like to view the full terms and conditions or receive further information on the Nyenrode Business Universiteit Entrepreneurial Manager Scholarship please visit here.
What a difference a week makes in the world of financial aid. After all, at this point a week ago, there was every indication that federal student loan interest rates – which had been set to double on July 1st due – would do exactly that. Although both US President Obama and Mitt Romney, his Republican challenger – not mention quite a few members of Congress besides – voiced support for measures that would prevent this automatic increase of interest rates.
With such broad support, in and of itself, there was not enough to reconcile differences between the two parties on how to pay for the bill or, ultimately, to bring the matter to a vote. With the issue of funding unresolved, as Congress approached the weekend (and its weeklong recess to commemorate the US’s Independence Day), the general consensus at the Capitol was that, come the new month, the interest rate on federally backed student loans would jump from 3.4% to 6.8%. While this measure only affects federal loans – and not private international student loans – this would indeed affect those students who plan to study abroad with federally-backed student loans.
In the end, though, what a difference a week makes. In a rare flurry of bipartisanship in the United States, an 11th hour compromise was reached. The leaders of the two major parties in the Senate found common ground on how to pay for the nearly $6 billion cost of the measure on Tuesday and it was this compromise measure that passed the House 373 to 52 Friday and, later the same day, the Senate itself 74 to 19. The US President, who actively called for the legislation, signed it into law on Friday. In so doing, the change is estimated to help more than 7 million students who currently receive Stafford loans by saving them an average of $1,000 each on their loans.
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