<p>Good evening,</p>
<p>I was wondering if someone could help me out. I'm a little clumbsy aroung the web, so perhaps you might have seen this before. Tuition in the US has become quite pricey, and I've recently come across several fellow parents sending their kids to different countries in Europe. Is it possible to help fund education in Europe (or other countries) with Federal aid, such as stafford loans? </p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>Hmmmm…that’s a good question. </p>
<p>I will say (and this is MY opinion). I would hope that Federally funded loans (Stafford and Perkins) are for use by colleges in this country only. Since they are U.S. federal need based loan programs, I would like to think they are to be used for schools in THIS country.</p>
<p>Another thing is that the colleges typically make these awards as part of their packages. I’m not sure foreign universities can award U.S. federally funded loans.</p>
<p>Hello thumper, well it seems to me I’ve seen universities abroad (and I’m thinking UK) that actually will allow you to borrow stafford loans. I saw this a while back, when I didn’t need this information, of course now I can’t find it. </p>
<p>Hopefully this is possible.</p>
<p>Bear in mind the Stafford is $5,500 freshman year, $6,500 sophomore, and $7,500 each Jr and Sr years. I just had a child study for ONE semester in the UK (through a study abroad program at her US university - not in the manner you are considering), and $5,500 does not go very far in the UK - especially when you add in the airfare. So even IF you could use it, it might not be helpful enough.</p>
<p>Yes, there are schools abroad and particularly in the UK which participate in US federal student aid programs. I posted a link awhile back on this forum…will post again when I find it!</p>
<p>sk8rmom, are these schools with a U.S. affiliation or are these schools that are in other countries. YES…these loans can be used for U.S. schools with an affiliated campus abroad. BUT for example, if a student applied to Royal College of Music in London, would they be able to use a Stafford loan there?</p>
<p>Yes, schools that are not affiliated with US colleges can participated in the direct loan program, but I still haven’t found the link! If you google college + UK + US federal student loan, schools like Royal College of London, Doncaster College, Imperial College of London, University College London, etc. will come up. However, UK is not an option under the search for school codes on the Fed Aid site (although one can search for schools in the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, etc.)</p>
<p>Edit…I figured it out finally. If you use the drop down for State on the “search for school code” and select “foreign country”, it will return a list of all the foreign schools that have a FAFSA school code.</p>
<p><a href=“https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/schoolSearch?locale=en_EN[/url]”>https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/schoolSearch?locale=en_EN</a></p>
<p>Good morning…I’m glad to know someone else has seen this before. Well, I know it’s expensive, but one should always keep options open. At least I do like keeping options open. My child is under some “funky” situation, so I will weigh different options to see which one will be a better choice.
And, not only in my case, but I think many parents should look into this as a good option for our children if the price tags for good schools keep going on the rise, plus studying in different countries contribute to the growth of kids. IMO.</p>
<p>I will continue to look into this, if not for Undergradute degrees…then for Graduate degrees. </p>
<p>SK8rmom…I will check out your post!</p>
<p>Canadian schools are less expensive than most private schools in this country. And slightly off topic (as I often am), there seems to be more merit money available for study abraod, but that isn’t necessarily what you are looking for.</p>