Study Abroad - USA

Financial aid to study in the US

It is natural to think that studying in the US will be difficult considering the fees and other necessities that need to be taken care of. Most often, this fear is unfounded, since there are many financial options available to take care of most of the necessities.

This financial aid is very important, since everything can be worked out & known even before you step into the country, every financial detail can be planned & everything prioritised well in advance.

Basically instituted to support a student financially in his further studies, education scholarships/ financial aids is awarded to international students based primarily on merit & rarely on need. The amount, and type of assistance offered varies, based on the university, department and level of study.

Assistance of funds is more likely in Graduate studies and less in Undergraduate courses. Also funds are more likely to be available in fields like Engineering, Physical Sciences and Biological sciences, rather than in courses like Humanities, Social Sciences and Management.

Depending on what you opt for, there are different procedures & different types of financial aids available.

For admission into an Undergraduate course:

A financial aid application must be submitted to seek financial assistance to study abroad. The profile of a college usually indicates the type of financial aid it offers. For aid, Undergraduate students have to submit the institution's own financial aid forms, as well as the Foreign Student's Financial Aid Form, which is provided by the college. A bank statement will also often be required.

Some other details, usually asked in these forms are:

• Your total personal annual income

• Total annual income of parents
  
• Average annual living expenses
  
• Some details of you and your parents' assets
  

•    Sources of funding for your education other than from the University

Even if no assistance is available at the time of admission, most Indian students manage to get some kind of financial aid from the university after one or two semesters. So it makes sense to go to the US for education, if you can manage one year's expenses on your own.

Admission into a Post graduate course

Students have to indicate their requirement for financial aid at the time of filling in the application form.

The different types of financial help available are:

1.    Tuition Waiver:  This means that the student does not have to pay the tuition fees at the university. However, general fees (for the use of university facilities like the library, computers, sports and health services) usually have to be borne by the student. A tuition waiver is frequently awarded in conjunction with a scholarship or teaching/research assistantship.

2.    Scholarship / Fellowship: This is usually an outright grant based on the student's academic ability and performance. Hence, only a truly outstanding student may be considered for this type of award, before enrolling at the university. A full scholarship would pay for a student's entire living expenses at that university, whereas a partial scholarship would require additional funds from the student.

3.    Assistantship: Most students who receive assistance usually do so in the form of an assistantship, i.e. a cash stipend sufficient for their living expenses, and/or tuition waiver. To get this, they have to work for a maximum of 20 hours per week. This work normally consists of teaching and research activities. These are usually for graduate courses.

Teaching assistantships are more likely to be in universities, which have large undergraduate classes whereas research assistantships tend to be more common in those fields and universities in which considerable research is in progress. Information brochures of most universities give this information. Often, teaching and research abilities must be proved before assistantship is granted. Hence, many universities grant this only after the first semester. You may also be required to take TSE (Test of Spoken English) to qualify for a teaching assistantship.

Even though scholarships are the best option with regards to taking care of your studies, not everybody is eligible to get financial aid.

Only those students have greater chance of getting financial aid if they:

• show evidence of a high level of academic achievement
  
• achieve high Standardized Examination scores (GRE, GMAT, TOEFL etc.)
  
• demonstrate financial need but have private funding to cover some of the cost.
  
• enrol in a field or have teaching experience in a subject offered at the undergraduate level (to increase opportunities for a teaching assistantship)
  
• specialize in a field or have a research interest which parallels that of the department and faculty or private funding source (which increases opportunities for research assistantships and grants)
  
• have outstanding letters of recommendation and an impressive statement of purpose.
  
• send a sample of professional writing, published or otherwise.
  

The below table details the estimated expenses that a student will have to bear in an regular academic year:

Although these are estimated expenses of International students, you can understand why financial aid of any kind is very helpful as a support and can sometimes be the all important factor in helping you get through your studies in the US.