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University education is an investment. It is an investment that can be quite overwhelming financially. Proper planning, communication, and excellent academics can help make the investment a bit better to manage.
The costs listed below are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. Their could be additional expenses not listed here. This page is meant to be a guide to help with planning. The costs will vary greatly from country to country and many times from school to school. It is important to check the requirements, tuition and fees for each school directly from their website. That should be the most current information.
English Proficiency Exams: TOEFL: $220, IELTS $255, or Duolingo $49
ACT: $150 Mostly just for US; many students take more than once.
SAT: $100+ Mostly just for US. Cost depends on which test.
Application Fees: 0-$150 Each application submitted could have a fee. In the US, it could cost up to $100 per application. Most are around $50 each. In Canada, the applications could cost up to $150 each. In the UK, $30 for up to 5 applications.
Test Sending Fee: Universities usually require ACT, SAT, and TOEFL come directly from the testing company. Each time it is sent there is a fee: ACT $13, SAT $12, TOEFL $20
Housing Application: Up to $75 in addition to applying for the university, you might need to apply to live on campus. Some universities have limited housing so they recommend applying for housing even before the student is accepted. Usually, this does not need to happen until after the student is accepted.
When discussing what your university budget is, it is usually most helpful to consider what your “all in” budget is. It doesn’t matter if you can afford tuition if you can’t afford to live and eat there, unless you want to consider an online education (not usually an option). Universities will refer to the total of these of expenses as the “Cost of Attendance” or “Cost of Education”
Tuition: The cost of attending classes will need to be paid each term before the term starts.
Enrollment Deposit: The amount depends on the university, usually $500 up to one term’s tuition. After the student is accepted and they have chosen which university they wish to attend, they will be required by some schools to pay an enrollment deposit to confirm their acceptance. In the US, that is by May 1. Students may only deposit to one US university.
Room & Board/Housing and Food:
Housing Deposit: After a student has accepted their enrollment, they might need to pay a housing deposit to hold a room for them.
Flights: Cost will vary greatly depending on when you travel, where you are going and even how
Visa Fees: US- SEVIS Fee $350 and application fee $160; At the time of the visa process, many if not most will require a personal bank statement showing enough money in the account to pay for one year’s university expenses. Visa process could also require medical check-up and passport photos.
Health Insurance: Many countries will require university students to have health insurance. If the family has health insurance that covers the student internationally and provide proper documentation of it, this requirement could be waived.
Misc. Fees: In addition to tuition, room and board, and health insurance, universities will often have a list of other required fees which could include technology fee, student activities fee, orientation fee, wellness fee, etc. These fees are not optional and the university should include those in the total cost of attendance.
Books and supplies: The first term will be the most expensive until the student learns where the best resources are for their university’s textbooks. Textbooks and supplies could be over $1000 per year.
Settling in expenses: Consider what will be needed to live at university. Clothes, linens, things to make it feel like home, electronics (phone, computer, etc), toiletries, etc. What will you bring from home and what is better to wait to get where you will be living? What is allowed in the housing? The university will most likely be able to provide you with a packing list.
University education is an investment. It is an investment that can be quite overwhelming financially. Proper planning, communication, and excellent academics can help make the investment a bit better to manage.
Scholarships are also known as “Merit Based Aid”
Merit based aid is given for something you have done.
Strong academic achievement
Proven leadership
Community Service/Volunteering
Athletics
Arts – Music, art, drama, etc
#youarewelcomehere US based scholarships. Look under the participants list several schools. Each school on the list is required to offer at least two 50% tuition scholarships. This is means that it can still be highly competitive and they could still be expensive, but worth checking out!
KING-MORGRIDGE SCHOLARS PROGRAM Scholarship specifically for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. You much be admitted to the university to apply. Applicants must be committed to alleviating poverty.
General Scholarship Searches:
https://www.edupass.org/paying-for-college/scholarships/databases/
If you are applying to any country other than the US, check the destination country to determine if you meet residency requirements for resident fee rates.
If you are applying to the US, you will qualify for federal government aid. State aid is hard to qualify for. You need to be able to show residency in various ways to qualify. All students who qualify for federal aid will be required to complete the FAFSA form. This determined how much Federal Grants, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Direct Loans and Federal Work-Study you qualify for.
If you university offers additional internal aid, they may choose to use the FAFSA information or they can ask you to complete additional documents such as the CSS Profile or internal documents.
The FAFSA form is to be completed by US citizens and residents that need financial assistance for their university fees. Some universities require it for students who are applying for merit aid as well.
The information on the form is put into a formula to calculate a students Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The government and universities use the EFC to determine the amount of aid a student is eligble for.
The form for 2023-24 opens October 1, 2022. The form and lots of other information about the form can be found at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/
Families will complete a new form each year.
Read the universities information carefully and ask questions. “Need-based aid available” does not usually equal full cost of attendance coverage.
Outside the US, most schools do not offer need-based aid to international students. Most will not ask for financial information in the application process. But, when completing the visa documents, proof of finances for the education and living expenses will be required usually on a bank statement.
Private schools in the US and some public schools offer need-based aid. The amount varies by school. Each school will require a form and supporting documentation. The most common form is the CSS Profile. Another popular one is the International Student Financial Aid Application. Some universities have their own form. It is important to read through the checklist on the universities website of forms and documents needed and when they are due.
The CSS Profile is used by private US institutions and a few public ones to determine a student’s non-federal financial aid.
The form and completion information can be found here: https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/
CSS Profile is thrugh College Board. Since it is being sent from an external organization to your designated university, there is a cost to send it. $26 for the first school and $16 for each additional school. Also, plan for it to take up to two weeks for the university to receive the document.
Loans are money that is borrowed and need to be repaid. Loans are available through banks, private organizations, and sometimes through the schools.
Questions to ask and understand before committing to the loans:
What is the interest rate?
When is it due?
If it isn’t due until after graduation, does it accrue interest during this time or do interest charges start after graduation
Are you, the student, commiting to the loan or are your parents names on the loan?
Are you required to have a co-signer?
How much loan can you realistically repay after graduation?
You are eligible for loans through the government as well as private. This is determined by the FAFSA Form.
Types of US Loans:
Federal Direct Subsidized
Federal Direct Unsubsidized
Federal Plus Loan
https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized
https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans/plus/parent
https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans/federal-vs-private
Students are usually eligible to work while in university. This not only provides them with an income, it provides practical life experience and starts building their work experience which could help when they start applying for internships and research opportunities.
If you are on a student visa, make sure you know the regulations for working while in a country as a student.
Visa requirements usually limit students to 20 hours a week while in school. This is not only a visa limit but strongly encouraged for citizens too. You are a full time student so you need to be able to do school 40+ hours a week.
Many countries allow students to work off campus as long as they stay within the limits of the hours.
The US does not allow students to earn an income off campus. Most universities understand this limitation and work to ensure internationals have opportunities to work on campus during the school year and during breaks.
On a student’s financial aid package, one of the lines might be “Work-Study”, “Federal Work Study” “Campus Employment” or something similar. If you qualify for US federal aid (US Citizens and residents), there is a government program that helps pay for students to have jobs on campus that you might qualify for. Even if you do not qualify for US federal aid, most universities have campus job options and might include it on you financial aid package.
A few things to know about this:
You have to look for the jobs
You have to apply and qualify for the jobs, they aren’t just given to you.
The amount on the financial aid package is not exact. You get paid an hourly wage for work performed.
Most jobs are minumum wage. Minimum wage varies by state.
The money can go directly into your bank or into your school account to pay off fees and tuition.
Many recommend that you budget this money for books, pocket money, and maybe money to travel home.
This is a place for you to find all the resources you need to be the best student you can be.
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