HOW TO FINANCE YOUR EDUCATION ABROAD
There are several options available for financing one’s education
abroad. But these options can be tough to obtain and sometimes,
even misleading in the support they actually render.
Some of the most prominent forms of aid available through
universities are :
Fellowship / Scholarship :
In case of a fellowship, the student is offered a complete tuition
waiver and a stipend for bearing living expenses/ Fellowships are
mostly merit-based, meaning they are based on one’s academic
performance, test scores and SOP or application essay. Several
but not all US schools offer scholarship and aid to foreign
students.
In addition, the student can find
out about trusts in their home country that provide merit based
scholarship. For example, HSBC India Student scholarships,
Jawaharlal Nehru Scholarships for doctoral studies, K. C. Mahindra
Education Trust.
Assistantship :
Assistantships require students to provide service to the
university and they are paid a stipend for it. In some cases, the
tuition is waived while in other cases, the students are put in
the in-state category (40%-50%) reduction in tuition) wherein the
tuition gets reduced sufficiently.
Graduate Assistantship (GA) :
The positions include computer lab consultants, student helper at
the graduate office and library. It helps if the student has
specific computing skills and organizational abilities when
applying for these positions. Students are also assigned short –
term projects like maintaining the college Web page, data entry
jobs or data base maintenance.
Teaching Assistantship (TA) :
Two kinds of teaching assistants at the universities, one who are
given grading assignments and the other who are given teaching
assignments. Schools have on Oral English Proficiency Test for
selecting candidates for the teaching position. The students
would be expected to have done the same course or a similar course
for a teaching position.
Research Assistantship (RA) :
Research assistantship usually requires the students to assist the
faculty member in research activities. Some universities have a
non thesis option for students, which require only course work as
degree requirements. In some schools only students opting for a
thesis option are eligible for RA. Normally the student with a
thesis option works on the thesis under the person for whom the
works as research assistant. The student should contact the
concerned departments describing his research interest.
Tuition Waiver :
In this case, the university waives
partial tuition fees or full tuition fees. However, general fees
(for the use of university facilities like the library, computers,
sports and health services) and the living expenses usually have
to be borne by the student. Tuition waiver is generally granted
along with TA, RA or scholarship.
On campus jobs :
The international student visa
permits them to work on campus on a part time basis for 20 hours
per week. The positions include student helpers at the university
bookstore, campus past office, dining halls, supervisory roles at
graduate housing office, etc. The students are paid on an hourly
basis and the amount would normally be sufficient to cover one’s
living expenses.
Cooperative education:
Universities that are situated in
locations with a high concentration of industries offer a
cooperative education option to the students. After the first
semester or year of study, depending on the student’s grades, the
international student’s office issues a practical training card to
the student that allows him to work off- campus for up to 20 hours
a week. The work, however, has to be related to the chosen field
of specialization and the student needs to maintain a certain GPA
throughout the rest of the course.
Ph.D. students are preferred for offering scholarships or
assistantships since the university would want them to be free of
financial obligations and focus completely on their research work.
Also, Ph.D. students are looked upon as a great asset to the
school since they would effectively contribute to the school’s
resources through their work, hence that bias in funding.
MBA student on the other hand have very few schools offering
financial assistance. Assistantships and other such “ working
programs” are very rarely awarded to MBA students due to the
intensive nature of their program; in fact a lot of universities
clearly bar students from taking up any such assignment.
Other sources of funding:
Loans :
Educational loans differ from the
usual loans by the fact that they have to be repaid only after the
course is complete.
The free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA) is used by US citizens and permanent residents
(holder of a “green card”) 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 US government
aid programmes (Pell Grant, SEPG Grant, Stafford Loan, Perkins
Loan, Plus Loan, and Federal Work– Study).
Since the above possibility is
ruled out in case of international students, they have only two
options left.
Loans from banks in the home Country :
Quite a few banks give educational loans. Students could approach
the bank and make provisions for at least part of the funding
required. Parents or the working spouse can take personal /
educational loan. However, a sizeable collateral is required and
the amount is subject to a ceiling of Rs 15 Lakh.
Loans from US banks :
A few US banks offer student loans to international students if
the loan is co –signed by a creditworjy US citizen or permanent
resident (holder of a “green card”). Loans are very expensive and
should be a last resort for foreign students. There are some
banks that waive the co-signer requirement for specific schools.
One needs to check this information from the school web site. For
example, Citibank provides loans to international students
admitted to Harvard business school without a co-signer.
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