Me an my two sons are currently staying in India ,my younger son is a US citizen by birth ,My husband was working there for almost 10+ years but after shifting to India 10 years back my husband passed away 2 years back and now I am facing major problem about my son’s education .Being a US citizen the college fees here in India is 3 to 5 times the resident fees ,can someone help me regarding this issue ,
- Will my son get any financial aid in US for his tution and stay ?
2.He is born in Columbus OH ,so whom do I approach ? And how ?
That depends on various factors including the individual college policies and practices, your son’s qualifications, and your financial circumstances. Based on information you provide with your application, each college decides whether or not to offer financial aid.
To estimate your net costs (after aid if any), run the online net price calculators for any colleges that interest you.
https://professionals.collegeboard.org/higher-ed/financial-aid/netprice
Admission and aid generally is handled on a college-by-college basis (although many colleges do share some forms and procedures). Look for application instructions on each school’s web site. If your son’s high school has a Guidance Counsellor who is familiar with US colleges, then s/he may be able to help. You always can come back to this forum with additional questions.
There are 2 types of colleges/universities: public and private
Public universities usually have 2 prices: one for ‘in-state’ students- (students whose families live and pay taxes in the state) and ‘out of state’ (“OOS”), which is a higher price for students whose families do not live in state. Your son will not qualify for in-state rates, but there are public universities that are very inexpensive (by US standards!) even for out of state applicants, and there are some who are trying to recruit top students by offering scholarships even for out of state students (University of Alabama is one).
At private universities, it doesn’t matter where you are resident. There are 2 types of financial aid: merit and need-based. There is a lot of variation in how they deal with money: some don’t consider whether you need financial aid when deciding whether to admit you, some do; some promise to meet your ‘full need’ (as they define it), others don’t; some use loans more than others. Merit aid is even more difficult to predict. In general, you want stats at the upper end of admitted students to get merit aid- typically they use merit aid to encourage strong students to choose them. None of the tippy-top schools offer merit aid- just need-based aid.
Your son will apply as a US student, but he will be assessed relative to the other students around him (as all students are). You don’t have to do anything special.
You can learn a lot about the process by reading the information at https://educationusa.state.gov/ Your son can get some personalized help at the advising center closest to where you live. There are several in India https://educationusa.state.gov/find-advising-center?field_region_target_id=&field_country_target_id=306&field_center_level_value=All If he can’t visit in person, he can contact them by email or telephone. There are a lot of US citizens like your son, so I expect the counselors will have useful ideas for him.
You will need to file the FAFSA so that your son can get federal financial aid. Because you aren’t a US citizen or legal resident, you aren’t living in the US right now, and you don’t file taxes in the US, there are a few extra steps you will need to take. If you ask in the Financial Aid Forum, the people there can help you. You will use 000000000 where it asks for the parent’s social security number, and you will need to convert the figures for income and assets into US $ at the exchange of the day.
What are your son’s grades? Is he considered a good student? Is he in an A-level, IB, CBSE program?
Has he taken the SAT or ACT? If not, he needs to prepare and take the test. A high score can give him excellent scholarships.
If your income is 45K a year or below, and his grades AND his test scores are good AND he’s doing something outside of school (work, volunteering, sport, music…) that he’s very good at, there are excellent colleges that meet full need for US citizens.
The key elements are his current grades, scores, and activities.
When will your son start college?
Can your son not apply for Indian citizenship and be a dual national?