<p>The rates for internationals (I'm Canadian) to attend UK schools are quite high! Neither Oxford nor Cambridge offer much financial aid for foreign students. I know there are merit scholarships available but from what it says on the web site, it appears they are scarce and very difficult to get and you really only find out after you're admitted. Am I overlooking something or are UK schools extremely difficult to pay for unless your family is quite wealthy? </p>
<p>For any current international students, did you receive any money from your university or are you footing the whole bill?</p>
<p>The options basically are:
- Being a European citizen
- Having a wealthy family
- Astonishing academic achievement
- Settling for a college way below one's league
- Participating in a semester or year long direct exchange program</p>
<p>The situation seems to be similar for European students who want to attend a Canadian university. What options do they have?</p>
<p>Being an EU national does NOT necessarily get you home fees at British universities in the case of UK nationals. You have to have lived in the UK for three years immediately prior to the 1 September of the autumn in which you start university in the category of "ordinary residence", that is with no restrictions on your right permanently to remain in the UK. If you are an EU national or EEA national and live in any of the countries in those categories, you get home fees, or 3070 GBP from 2007. All others pay overseas fees of around 10000 GBP for arts degrees. Sceience degrees are 2,000-3,000 GBP per year more.</p>
<p>There are very very few scholarships for overseas undergraduates. Settling for a college in the UK below one's competence has little to do with it, there still isn't any aid to speak of.</p>
<p>North Americans participating in a year or semester abroad program usually have to pay regular fees to their home US or Canadian university, along with additional expenses on top, so this isn't a cheap option either.</p>
<p>The fees payable by overseas students correspond to non resident tuition in US state universities, not cheap, but not exorbitant either. US students are eligible for Stafford Loans, but not Pell grants. I got a small scholarship to help me with fees at my university in the UK, good for one year, and I can reapply in future years. </p>
<p>Additionally, overseas students living in the UK for more than six months get free health care. Also non UK/EU/EEA students resident in the UK for more than six months may work for twenty hours per week.</p>