 eduPASS | The International Student's Guide to Studying and Living in the USA |
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eduPASS | The International Student's Guide to Studying and Living in the USA |
| Chinese | English | French | German | Hebrew | Italian | Japanese | Korean | Russian | Spanish |
A US education is very expensive. Tuition, room and board at an undergraduate institution will cost from $15,000 to $40,000 a year, depending on the school. A graduate education can be even more expensive.
There is very little financial aid for foreign nationals to study in the US, with the possible exception of citizens of Canada and Mexico. Most grants, scholarships, and loans from public and private sources are restricted to US citizens.
As a result, international students will find very little information about financial aid for international students. This site presents more information about financial aid for international students than any other publication. This information originally appeared as part of the FinAid site.
Below you will find a description of how to access what aid is available, and a discussion of some of the problems you may encounter as you pay for a US education.
US students interested in obtaining funding for study abroad should see FinAid's Study Abroad and Foreign Study Programs section.
When calculating the annual cost of
a US education at a particular college or university, add at least
$6,000 to the published cost of tuition, fees, and room and board.
The College Board publishes college costs and other useful information
in The College Board Handbook: Foreign Student Supplement.
When preparing a budget, you will need to account for the following
costs:
If you bring other family members with you, assume that your annual
expenses will increase by about 15% or $5,000 for each additional family member.
If you intend to buy a car, assume that it will cost you about $4,000
a year.
If you will be traveling during the summer, assume a cost of $50 to
$75 a day for tourist activities. If you will be continuing your
education during the summer, add half the figure you calculated for
the academic year.
Assume that your costs will increase by about 5% per year due to
inflation. Don't forget to include an allowance of about 10% to
account for fluctuations in exchange rates.
Use the following worksheet to estimate your costs for a year of study
in the US. Be realistic when estimating costs for personal expenses.
Because sources of financial aid to study in the US are extremely
limited, you will have to be resourceful and explore every
possibility.
One of the best sources of financial aid to study in the US is
organizations in your own country. The nearest educational advising
center may have information about local sources of support.
Your own government may have financial aid available. (Usually this
support requires that you return home after your education is
complete.)
Contact the cultural section of your embassy or your ministry of
education for more information, since there are many awards which
require you to be nominated by your government.
There may also be private organizations in your home country that
provide support for study in the US. Businesses, foundations, and
religious groups might have funds available.
Of the few private scholarships for international students, most require
that you apply from your home country. If you are already in the US
you might not be eligible. So you should search for financial aid
before you arrive in the US.
Some international organizations offer funding for graduate students
to study in the US. These include the United Nations, the
Organization of American States (OAS), AMIDEAST, the International
Maritime Organization, the International Telecommunications Union, the
League of Red Cross Societies, the Soros Foundation, the World Health
Organization, and the World Council of Churches. These awards are
extremely competitive.
Fulbright scholarships are awarded to approximately 4,700 graduate students
worldwide each year. Applicants are required to take the TOEFL and GRE
or GMAT exams. Professional education, such as medical studies, is not
eligible.
Fulbright students are required to be on J-1 visas for the duration of
their sponsorship. For information about applying to the Fulbright Program in your
country, contact the nearest US embassy or consulate, Fulbright
Commission office, or educational advising center.
The US Information Agency maintains information about studying in the
US, the
Fulbright program,
and the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program,
in the
Educational and Cultural Exchange
section of their web site, including
Fulbright Commission contact information
for most
countries.
For more
information, call 1-202-619-4355, fax 1-202-619-6988, write to United
States Information Agency, Office of Public Liaison, 301 4th Street,
SW, Room 602, Washington, DC 20547, or send email to inquiry@usia.gov.
Please note that the US government student assistance programs,
including the Pell Grant, Stafford and PLUS loans, and work-study
programs, are not available to international students.
There may, however, be aid available from the US government for
students from specific countries. Your best bet for finding out if
there is any financial aid from the US for students from your country
is to contact your embassy, the
US Department of State,
and the US Information Agency.
You should also write to the
Agency for International Development, Office of International Training,
Washington, DC 20523.
Financial aid for international undergraduate students is extremely rare.
Foreign graduate students have significantly more opportunities for
financial aid than foreign undergraduate students. The amount of
financial aid for foreign graduate students is nevertheless quite limited.
A list of schools with
financial aid for international undergraduate students
appears below.
Some US schools have direct exchange programs with their counterparts
in foreign countries. Such exchange programs often include financial
aid for the international student. To find out about these programs, ask
your local university.
International students who intend to enroll in a graduate or
postdoctoral program at a US
university should contact the schools that interest them. Ask both the
relevant department(s) and the university's Financial Aid Office about
financial aid for international students.
Most support for graduate study in the US by international
students is provided by the schools themselves in the form of teaching
assistantships and research assistantships. These assistantships are
based on academic merit, not financial need. The school will require
you to pass the Test of Spoken English (TSE) to qualify for a teaching
assistantship.
Financial aid is not available for English as a Second Language
courses, should you should have a TOEFL score of at least 550 to
qualify for financial aid. If all else is equal, the candidate with
the better English skills will get the financial aid.
International students who are already enrolled in a US university should
visit the International Student Advisor, Financial Aid Office,
and Career Planning & Placement Office
for information about financial aid for international students. The campus
library may also have some relevant books.
There is very little financial aid for international students
available from private sources, such as foundations and individual
sponsors.
To discover what is available, search some of the free scholarship and
fellowship databases listed on the
FinAid site. The
FastWEB
database, in particular, has good coverage of the awards available for
international students. See also the list of
scholarship and fellowship databases
below. (Be aware that fee-based scholarship matching
services often do not have any listings of awards for international
students. Most awards listed in these databases are restricted to US
citizens and permanent residents. The databases may claim otherwise,
but that's often because they find it easy to exploit international
students. Don't waste your money.)
Another suggestion is to read some of the ethnic newspapers that are
published in the US. Some sources of financial aid are publicized only
in such foreign language newspapers. If there isn't anything listed,
try calling the editor of the newspaper to see if they know of any
possibilities, such as a member of the community who might be willing
to sponsor your education.
Although you might be able to find a generous benefactor who will
offer to sponsor your US education, the chances of this are less than
1 in 10,000. Sponsorship of this sort is much more common abroad than
it is in the US. You're more likely to find a sponsor in your home
country than in the US. (US sponsors are as generous as their
international counterparts. They are just overwhelmed by the
relatively large
numbers of international students seeking financial assistance and the
higher cost of education in the United States.)
According to NAFSA (Association of International Educators),
more than two-thirds of international students in the US finance their education using
their own resources and the resources of their family.
According to a 1995 study by the
IIE (Institute of International Education),
81% of international undergraduate students (48% of international
graduate students) relied exclusively on
their own resources and their family's resources to finance their
education in the US. The IIE study also found that 7% of undergraduate
international students received funding from the school, 5% from their
home governments, and 5% from private organizations. Less than 20% of
the financial aid comes from US sources.
So you are most likely going to have to rely on your own assets, your
parent's money, and contributions from relatives.
Some US schools are more likely than others to offer financial aid for
international undergraduate students. The lists below indicate which
schools offer aid (including grants, loans, and jobs) to the largest
numbers of international students. The lists are based on a list
compiled by Douglas C. Thompson,
Associate Vice President for Enrollment, The Culinary Institute of America.
To be included in the following lists, the schools must have an
average award that is greater than 1/5 of the cost of attendance. The
financial aid may include grants, loans, and jobs, and often includes
both merit and need-based awards. Within each group, schools are
listed in alphabetical order.
(Remember that a much greater number of schools provide
financial aid for international graduate students in
the form of teaching and research assistantships.
For information about financial aid for graduate study in the US,
you should contact the schools that interest you even if they aren't
included in the lists below.)
It a school is not listed here, it probably does not have much
financial aid for international students. However, it is worth noting
that some schools may have athletic
scholarships that are open to both international students and US students.
The lists below do not count the number of athletic scholarships
awarded to international students.
You may find some of the following publications helpful. Additional
references can be found in the
bibliography.
Before you
order a copy, check whether your library has a copy. The US
Embassy in your country may have copies in their library. Most US
embassies and consulates can provide basic information about studying
in the US.
This section lists a few organizations that may be able to provide
some information about financial aid for international students.
NAFSA does not provide any grants to international students, with the
exception of a small grant program for students from the Soviet
Union (1-202-939-3111). (There was previously a program for
students from East Central Europe and the Baltic
States, but this program is no longer accepting
new applications.) Information about these programs should
be available from the international student advisor at most colleges
and universities. (See, for example, the
REAP Program Page at Indiana University.)
For more information, call 1-202-462-4811, fax 1-202-667-3419, write to
NAFSA: Association of International Educators, 1875 Connecticut
Avenue, NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20009-5728, or send email to
inbox@nafsa.org.
To order NAFSA publications, call 1-800-836-4994, fax 1-412-741-0609,
or write to NAFSA Publications, PO Box 1020, Sewickley, PA 15143.
For more information, write to Institute for International Education,
809 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017-3580, call 1-212-883-8200
or 1-212-984-5412, fax 1-212-984-5452, or send email to
webmaster@www.iie.org.
You will undoubtedly encounter several scholarship matching services
that, for a fee, will
offer to search a database of scholarships
for awards that match your profile. Unfortunately, the vast majority
of awards in these databases are restricted to US citizens and
permanent residents. Don't waste your money on such services.
The following databases are dedicated to listing scholarships for
international students in specific countries. You should also consider
searching the free databases of scholarships on the
FinAid site, since some of them
include scholarships for international students.
A word of caution: If a scholarship has an application fee, don't
apply.
If you have to pay money to get money, it is probably a
scam. For more information about scholarship scams, the unclaimed aid
myth, and related topics, see the
Scholarship Scams section of the FinAid site.
A few US banks will offer student loans to international students if the loan
is co-signed by a creditworthy US citizen or permanent resident
(holder of a "green card"). There
may also be restrictions on the type of visa (F1 or J1).
When evaluating a loan program, it is important to carefully compare
the costs. Some loans have interest rates pegged to the 91-day T-Bill
Rate. Others use the Prime Lending Rate, which is approximately two to
four percentage points higher.
Many universities take an extremely conservative approach to the
taxability of scholarships, fellowships, and assistantships for
international students, withholding as much as 30% of the award for
tax purposes.
Some international students may benefit from specific tax treaties between
the US and their country. Some tax treaties exempt student awards from
taxes, depending on the visa type, type of award, and length of time
in the United States.
Information about these treaties may be
found in IRS Publication 901, U.S.
Tax Treaties.
Other IRS Publications that may be of interest include:
513 Tax Information for Visitors to the U.S.,
515 Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and ...,
and 519 U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.
Current
publications and forms
can be obtained from the
IRS web site
or by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676).
Many international students do not realize that they are entitled to a
refund of all or part of the money withheld. To do so, you must file a
nonresident tax return (1040NRA) and attach a coverletter explaining that you
are requesting a refund of the tax withheld under the conditions of
the tax treaty with your hold country.
If the tax treaty with
your country exempts your award from tax, you may be able to get your
school to stop withholding the money from your paycheck.
Note that many tax treaties discuss both educational awards and funds
received for personal services, with more favorable conditions
attached to educational awards. You will need to convince your school
that your scholarship or fellowship should be classified as an
educational award and not as funds received for personal services.
You will also need to explain that the university is only required to
withhold 30% of the scholarship, fellowship, or assistantship if the
award is not covered by the provisions of a tax treaty.
Note that tax status is different from immigration status. You might
be considered as a resident for tax purposes even if you are a
nonresident for immigration purposes. To be considered a non-resident
alien for tax purposes, you must have been in the US for less than 5 years.
It is important to file US income tax returns annually. Failing to
file tax forms can affect your ability to re-enter the US or the
success of an application to change visa status (e.g., from F-1 to H-1B).
If your only US income was bank interest or you had no US income, you
will need to file Form 8843. Otherwise you will need to file a
non-resident income tax return, either Form 1040NR or Form 1040NR
EZ. You can file the EZ form if your only US income came from wages,
salaries, tips, taxable refunds of state and local income taxes, and
scholarship or fellowship grants; you do not claim any dependents and
cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else's US income tax
return; your taxable income was less than $50,000; and you do not
itemize deductions. If you had dividend income from stocks, bonds, or
mutual funds, you must use the non-EZ form. Your dependents must also file either Form 8843, Form 1040NR, or
Form 1040NR EZ. You must file the forms even if you were in the US for
only a day in the previous calendar year. You are also required to
file the forms even if your country has a tax treaty with the US. The deadline for filing US
income tax returns is April 15.
Additional information about US income taxes can be found at
the
US Tax Guide for International Students, Professors, Teachers, and Researchers.
The
TaxSites Tax and Accounting Sites Directory
and
Windstar Technologies web site
may also be helpful.
You can ask questions of the IRS by calling 1-800-829-1040.
The Social Security Administration's
Office of International Programs
provides information about the US social security taxes and
bilateral Social Security agreements with other countries.
In particular, F-1 and J-1 students are exempt from the social
security payroll tax (FICA) while they are non-resident aliens if their
employment is directly related to their purpose for being in the US
(e.g., practical training or academic training). F-1 and J-1 students
are considered non-resident aliens for tax purposes if they've been in
the US for less than 5 years. Income earned by a J-2 dependent, on the
other hand, is subject to FICA.
If you will be earning income from US sources, such as an
assistantship, on-campus job, or off-campus job for practical
training, you will need a social security number. Please note that a Social Security Number is
not the same as the number your school may have assigned to
you on your
student ID, even though it often has the same number of digits as a
Social Security Number.
To apply for a
social security number, bring your passport, Form I-94, Form I-20 or
Form IAP-66, and a letter from the International Student Advisor at
your school to the nearest Social Security office. You can also obtain
the
Application for a Social Security Card (SS-5)
from the Social
Security Administration's web site.
Ask for a receipt
from the Social Security office if you intend to start work before the
number is granted, so that you can present your employer with proof
that you've applied for a Social Security Number.
(If you are required to file only Form 8843, you do not need a Social
Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number. You will need one,
however, to file a Form 1040NR or Form 1040NR EZ.)
The Social Security
Number is also useful for other purposes, such as those discussed in
the next section.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used by US
citizens and permanent residents to apply for financial aid from the
US federal and state governments. Colleges and universities also use
the information submitted on the FAFSA for computing need-based
awards. International students are not eligible for the US
government aid programs (Pell Grant, SEOG Grant, Stafford Loan,
Perkins Loan, PLUS Loan, and Federal Work-Study). However, many
schools will ask international students to submit a FAFSA so that they
may use the data for assessing financial need.
Before filing a FAFSA, international students should ask the schools to
which they are applying what procedure they should use to apply for
institutional aid.
Some schools require students to file a FAFSA as part of their
application for institutional aid. However, if a international student
submits a FAFSA without supplying a Social Security Number (SSN) or
Alien Registration Number (ARN), the FAFSA will be rejected and the
data will not be processed. Even if the international student supplies
a SSN, the FAFSA will be rejected when they check option 3 ("No,
neither of the above.") in the answer to question 15-16 ("Are you a
U.S. citizen?").
At first glance, it seems that there is no way to work around this
problem. The FAFSA is not intended to be used by schools for
processing institutional aid applications submitted by international
students. Only US citizens and eligible noncitizens may receive
federal student financial aid. US citizens have SSNs, eligible
noncitizens have ARNs, and international students have neither. According to
the 1992 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965, every
applicant must have a social security number in order to apply for
federal student financial aid. Since the primary purpose of the FAFSA
is to apply for federal student financial aid, a FAFSA submitted
without a social security number will be rejected.
Nevertheless, it turns out that since a social security number is not
considered proof of US citizenship, some international students may be able
to apply for and receive a social security number. (This may depend on
the type of visa; it isn't clear.) If a international student receives a
social security number, the card is stamped so that there is no
mistaking it for citizenship. They can then use this number to
complete their FAFSA. (They can also use the social security number to
open a bank account or get a driver's license.)
When a international student with a social security number submits a FAFSA,
they should supply their social security number in the answer to
question 8, and check option 3 ("No, neither of the above.") in the
answer to question 15-16 ("Are you a U.S. citizen?") to indicate that
they are not eligible for federal student financial aid.
Even though the FAFSA will still be rejected, according to a contact
at the US Department of Education, the data is still there and
can be drawn down by the financial aid office and used
to make institutional awards.
Before applying for a social security number and filing a FAFSA,
however, international students should ask the school whether they should
submit a FAFSA, and if so, where it should be submitted. Many schools
that use the FAFSA for processing foreign student aid applications
require the students to submit the FAFSA directly to the school, and
not to the federal processor. This bypasses the entire need for a
Social Security Number.
International students should be careful to not supply another
nine-digit number in the Social Security Number field. The FAFSA will
get processed if they do this, but it will be flagged for verification
because the Social Security Number will not produce a positive match.
In addition to the FastWEB and CANFUNDS
scholarship and fellowship databases
listed above, the University of Waterloo
and
Simon Fraser University
offer databases of scholarships and fellowships for Canadian students
to study in Canada.
For information about loans available to Canadian students, see the
entries on MEFA and
CanHELP in the loans section above.
Canadian Guidance Services publishes a 250-page book of scholarships
and awards available to Canadian high school students who will be
entering a Canadian university. The book is revised every two years
and is now in its 7th edition. The cost of the book is $19.95 plus $5
shipping and handling and $1.75 GST (total $26.70). For more
information or to order a copy, call 1-905-332-0083, write to
Canadian Guidance Services, 2042 Coral Cres., Burlington, Ontario,
Canada, L7P 3K5, or send email to canguide@wchat.on.ca.
Canadian students attending colleges in the USA may obtain loans through
the Canadian government's Ministry of Skills, Training and Labour.
Students should contact a Canadian lender, the appropriate Ministry
office in their province, or Human Resources Development Canada in Ottawa.
The interest rate is typically the prime rate plus 5.0%.
One lender which issues these loans is Royal Bank Student Loan Centre,
Transit #9080, PO Box 9590, Vancouver, BC V6B 4G3. For more
information, call them at 1-604-665-4029 .
Calculating College Costs
Financial Planning Worksheet
Expense Estimated Cost Application and Test Fees $____________ Tuition and Fees $____________ Books $____________ Travel to US $____________ Room and Board $____________ Expenses when school is closed $____________ Clothing $____________ Personal expenses $____________ Health insurance $____________ Summer study or travel $____________ Additional family members $____________ Other $____________ TOTAL FOR ONE YEAR $____________ Multiply the total by the number of years in your program $____________ Sources of Financial Aid
Aid from Your Home Country
Aid from International Organizations
Aid from the US Government
Aid from US Educational Institutions
Aid from Private US Organizations and Sponsors
Assistance from Your Family
Schools with Financial Aid for International Undergraduate Students
Schools with Awards to More than 100 Students
Beloit College (WI) Julliard School (NY) Stanford (CA)
Brown Univ. (RI) Louisiana State Univ. (LA) Tri-State Univ. (IN)
Calvin College (MI) Luther College (IA) Univ. of Bridgeport (CT)
College of Wooster (OH) MIT (MA) Univ. of Pennsylvania (PA)
Dartmouth (NH) Macalester College (MN) Univ. of Rochester (NY)
Dordt College (IA) Northeast Louisiana (LA) Washington Univ. (MO)
Graceland College (IA) Oberlin (OH) Yale (CT)
Grinnell College (IA) Ohio Wesleyan Univ. (OH)
Harvard (MA) Princeton (NJ)
Schools with Awards to 50-99 Students
Allegheny College (PA) Franklin & Marshall (PA) Middlebury College (VT)
Brandeis Univ. (MA) George Washington Univ. (DC) Principia College (IL)
Bryn Mawr College (PA) Goshen College (IN) Smith College (MA)
California Lutheran (CA) Hamilton College (NY) St. Lawrence Univ. (NY)
Clark Univ. (MA) Ithaca College (NY) Tulane Univ. (LA)
Cleveland Inst. of Music (OH) Knox College (IL) Univ. of Wisc./Eau Clair (WI)
Concordia Coll. (MN) Lafayette College (PA) US International Univ. (CA)
Cornell Univ. (NY) Lewis & Clark (OR)
Eckerd College (FL) Maharishi Intl. Univ. (IA)
Schools with Awards to 15-49 Students
Albright College (PA) Eastern Nazarene (MA) St. Olaf College (MN)
Amherst College (MA) Elizabethtown College (PA) Swarthmore College (PA)
Augustana College (IL) Elmira College (NY) Thomas Aquinas College (CA)
Bates College (ME) Gettysburg College (PA) Troy State Univ. (AL)
Bowdoin College (ME) Gustavas Adolphus College (MN) Univ. of Chicago (IL)
CalTech (CA) Hampshire College (MA) Univ. of Oregon (OR)
Central College (IA) Hood College (MD) Univ. of St. Thomas (MN)
Coe College (IA) Kalamazoo College (MI) Univ. of the South (TN)
Colby College (ME) Kenyon College (OH) Vassar College (NY)
Columbia Univ. (NY) Messiah College (PA) Wabash College (IN)
Davidson College (NC) Mount Union College (OH) Wellesley College (MA)
Denison Univ. (OH) Occidental College (CA) Wesleyan Univ. (CT)
Dickinson College (PA) Slippery Rock Univ. (PA) West Virginia Wesleyan (WV)
Earlham College (IN) St. Johns College (MD) William Smith College (NY)
Wittenberg Univ. (OH)
Useful Publications
Organizations
Scholarships for International Students
Add US$5 for currency-charges. (This extra-charge will be dropped
as soon as they have a simple and secure international digital
payment-system working.)
They also sell "Stora Fondboken" for US$58 for Macintosh or PC systems
with information on 3,000 grants worldwide. It is also available as a CD-ROM
for US$285 per year plus VAT. They are working on an online search
service for their web page.
For more information, call
+46-670-614310 or +46-8-836113, fax +46-670-614330, write to
Stöd & Stipendier AB (SOS AB), Transtigen 7, S-833 35
STRÖMSUND, Sweden, or
send email to grants@algonet.se.
Loans for International Students
Income Taxes
International Students and the FAFSA
Financial Aid for Canadian Students
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