How to get a scholarship as an international student?
While US higher education can be sort of expensive compared
to other universities around the world. There are plenty of ways to get
financial aid.
First, plan your financial budget, that means, precisely
include tuition and the cost of courses and other administrative fees, as well
as your living expenses, books and health insurance. Note that the total annual cost of a US
education can vary greatly from one university to another. The least expensive institutions
are community colleges. The state universities will by and large cost an
international student somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 per year, whereas
private universities can be as high as $60,000 - $70,000 (approximately) per
year for undergraduate education, at times even more for graduate studies.
Mostly all of the US universities offer scholarships to
international students both at the undergraduate and graduate level. These
scholarships can be: (a) 'need-based', that means based on your financial need,
usually offered to US citizen, mainly veterans. (b) merit-based, that means, based
on your test scores, academic achievement or extraordinary skills.
To apply for
merit-based grants, contact universities' admissions office directly at least
one year in advance in order to check whether you are eligible. Each university
will have its own requirements and will offer different kinds of financial aid.
Think out of the box: if you have a strong academic achievements
and your nationality is underrepresented in a certain region of the US, your
chances of getting a merit-based scholarship increase notably because a chief
goal of all universities in US is to achieve student diversity. Athletic are very
common in US, and athletic achievement can get financial profit to American
universities. Thus, students have chances of getting athletic scholarships at
the undergraduate level. Many universities are ready to pay considerable sums
of student-athletes’ tuition.
At the graduate level, students have an opportunity to get a
tuition waiver and/or a stipend if they work as researcher or administrative
assistants within their own department. These kinds of opportunities are mostly
offered to PhD students. Assistantship positions vary from one university to
another. The department head is in charge for recruiting graduate assistants
and usually knows in advance if the department has enough funds to hire
graduate assistants.
If you are interested in this option, you should directly contact
the program head immediately once you apply to the program.
Further information on all types of scholarships offering
financial aid to international students can be found directly at the individual
universities web sites.
How to get a scholarship as an international student?
Reviewed by Komal Ganjoo
on
April 23, 2017
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