Uncategorized

Financial Planning For US Education

Financing Your Education

You must always plan out the financial details of studying in a US university. While applying to the university, as far as finances are concerned, you would be required to prove to the University/Consular officer/ U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service that you have sufficient funds for covering:

• Living expenses
• University tuition fees
• Health insurance

Macro Factors

The money required for financing your education would vary with two macro factors:

1. State Universities versus Private Universities

• State run universities generally have lower fees as compared to private run universities
• Private universities may offer scholarships that state run schools may not.
• Also many websites may not consider private run institutions in their rankings.
• Conversely several private run institutions may create websites of their own to boost their rankings; hence it is important to refer to trusted websites such as www.usnews.com.
• Also, two-year or community colleges are usually less expensive than colleges and universities offering bachelor’s and graduate degrees.

2. Urban versus Rural areas

• The cost of the living in a big city in the United States will be much higher as compared to a village or a smaller town.
• Typically expenses such as house rents may differ by almost twice the amount for rural and urban areas.
• Other expenses such as travelling expenses, food and entertainment expenses may also be substantially higher in urban areas.
• The tradeoff is also in terms of how much one is willing to spend. A person with deep pockets may well opt for a city based university to enjoy all the facilities offered by a top city of the most developed country in the world.

Expenses Check List

Typically, your expenses while studying in a US university will primarily comprise of the following:

• University expenses comprising of tuition fees, books fees and utilities fees.
• Personal expenses such as house rent, food, clothing, telephone/mobile, recreation and travel expenses.
• Insurance expenses
• Taxes

Possible Sources Of Financial Aid

International Student Loans

The criteria for international students to avail student loans are as follows:

• The university is approved
• US citizen or permanent resident to co-sign for you, you can borrow as much as you’ll need.
  

International scholarships

• Criteria for awarding a scholarship vary from university to university. Some give GRE/TOEFL scores the primary weightage while some demand a minimum grade point average in your prior education.
• For applying to the different scholarships on offer, one must complete either an application form and/or submit a statement of purpose or some other written document as required by the body offering the scholarship.

Employment

• Unless granted with a teaching or research assistantship one cannot rely on working in the US to cover for education and living expenses.
• While applying one cannot rely on potential income and an application should be based on an assured source of income.

Other Related Posts You Might Be Interested In

• Cost Of Living For International Students In New Zealand
• GLASGOW UNDERGRADUATE EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIPS – UK
• SCHOLARSHIP FOR STUDY IN AUSTRALIA
• Scholarships – The Landerer UK Arts scholarship
• Scholarship in Australia – Commonwealth and La Trobe University Equity Scholarships 2010
• Scholarship in Australia – Scholarships for International School Leavers Applying University of Sydney
• Studying in Australia
• UK Grants and Scholarships

Don't be the last one on the block to know about the latest employment opportunities. Keep yourself subscribed either by RSS or email below. We will deliver you all the latest news and if you wish you can unsubscribe any time

Searching for something?