confused about financial aid

<p>okay, first post ever...don't even know where to start, so many questions...i currently go to a community college in texas and i'm hoping to finish up my associates and transfer to a 4-year for a bachelors, the issue is that i want to major in archaeology and not american archaeology either, so i've been looking at schools in australia (but for lots of other reasons, too)...i'm not interested, by the way, in "studying abroad" in a program; when i say i want a bachelor's there, i mean going there to stay</p>

<p>here's my issue, though, my parents have no savings, i have no savings, we're too middle class...my question is: does anyone know how financial aid works for american students hoping to go to australian schools? i'm confused enough as it is with financial aid here in this country and either i'm a bad researcher or there just isn't a lot of concrete information out there for people like me (guessing it's the first one)...any help would be appreciated and apologies if i put this in the wrong place</p>

<p>I do not have first hand information about Australian colleges but I do have information about Australia in general. The Australian government is not eager to support or see financial profit for expatriats (those who are from different countries who live there). For example, it is VERY difficult for an expat to buy a home there until they have lived there for a certain period of time AND then it is very difficult to profit from the home's sale (at one point, expats could NOT profit at all due to home sales). AND Australia is a very very expensive place to live. I'm only guessing, but I would guess that someone who is not an Australian citizen would likely NOT be eligible for Australian monies to attend college there. Having said that...in this day of email, why don't you look on the web at the colleges you are considering and see what they say about finaid for internationals.</p>

<p>thanks for replying...over the past few weeks, i've been looking at various university websites (i wouldn't come here with a question unless i felt it couldn't be answered where i've already looked) and basically there is a little section on possible scholarships and then the part about all the fees...i'm guessing you mean in your post that they don't prefer to have international students in their system who want to stay? </p>

<p>the main universities i've looking at (university of melbourne and university of queensland) stated their cost per course for international students, so i am not expecting to receive the kind of help that australian born students get, mostly i'm wondering if there are financial options, such as loans, either from america or from australia, to cover such costs...what about things like "work-study" that we have over here?</p>

<p>also, where do you live in australia? because i've always heard that australia is about as expensive or less than america...i live in a pretty nice area, so don't think that because i live in texas i live in some trailer park or some backwoods somewhere heh ;) exactly how expensive do you mean? because i'm not looking to live in the heart of sydney or something, the costs i've seen for apartments tend to be comparable to the ones here where i live...</p>

<p>I do not live in Australia but I have relatives who did. They were the ones who shared the info with me.</p>