American Citizen and International Aid

<p>Hello. I'm an American citizen but I have been living in Taiwan for almost 10 years and I'm currently studying in a Taiwanese university. As an American Citizen in this situation if I go from Taiwan to study in an American graduate program am I viable for any international student aid or scholarships? Thanks for any help or ideas you can give.</p>

<p>No...you're an American citizen. You would file the FAFSA and whatever FA forms your school requires because you have a SS number.</p>

<p>Would it make any difference if I used my Taiwanese ID number when applying and didn't mention that I was an American citizen?</p>

<p>Use your id for what? You can if you want and not fill out the FAFSA. You'll have to certify your finances and all that fun stuff. You won't be eligible for any American grants, loans, etc. You would depend solely on institutional aid.</p>

<p>If I'm only eligible for institutional aid do you think it would be better to try for some of the other grants? What do you think would save me the most money? What do I have the best chance of getting?</p>

<p>Are you looking to get a master's or PhD?</p>

<p>my understanding is that American citizens get better FA offers, even for graduate school. So you want to make sure and apply as a US citizen. Schools may also find you eligible for funds that they use to attract international students, due to your time abroad. You will probably have the best of both worlds -- just make sure you do your research. Depending on your field, some master's programs have virtually no grants and tons of loans -- others offer TA jobs and such and some have great grant programs</p>

<p>I'm looking to get a master's. But it's looking like there might be more aid if I apply as an American. Thanks for everybody's help. I'm going to look into some of the American aid when the time comes.</p>

<p>Yup, most master's degrees are not funded. Meaning you have to take out Stafford loans and GradPLUS loans.</p>