Scholarships
International student scholarships are very hard to secure. The great majority of international students in America must rely exclusively on themselves and their relatives for funding. If you need to obtain financial aid or an international student scholarship to afford an American education, the best place for you to look is your home country. There may be international student scholarships and international student loans available for study abroad from your government, or from local businesses, organizations, and foundations in your home country.

Other places to look for international student scholarships, international student loans and other forms of international student aid are international humanitarian organizations that want to promote international education and cultural exchange with the USA. Included in these organizations are the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the League of Red Cross Societies, and the World Council of Churches.

Finally, there are also many universities in the US that provide financial aid and international student scholarships to international students. However, this aid is usually limited and is often more readily available to graduate than undergraduate students. Furthermore, competition for international student scholarships and aid is fierce, and schools are careful to help out the most deserving international students. Good grades and exam scores are extremely important in securing an international student scholarship.

Find out whether any of the schools that you would like to apply to have grants, loans or scholarships for international students. If they don’t, and you have not been able to obtain enough funding on your own, you may have to consider other schools that will help

We mention below some links for websites that provide information on international student scholarships and financial aid for international students:

International Education Financial Aid (IEFA): This site provides a searchable database that contains various sources of aid available to international students. It is a free service.

International Student Loans: This site offers loans to international students, so long as the international student loan is co-signed by an American citizen.

Fulbright: Fulbright grants are available for international students in graduate school.

Rotary International: This organization provides some limited international student scholarships.

AAUW: This organization provides fellowships for international graduate students who are women.

American Councils for International Education: The councils provide international student grants and fellowships to international students from the former Soviet republics.

Cornell University Graduate School Fellowship Notebook: This university contains a list of funding and international student scholarships available to graduate international students.

The flagship international educational program sponsored by the United States Government, the Fulbright Programme (http://www.iie.org/Template.cfm?section=Fulbright) provides grants for Graduate Students, Scholars and Professionals, and Teachers and Administrators from the U.S. and other countries.

 

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