Despite the fact that most Universities in California don’t offer financial aid for international students, it is still the state with the major presence of international students. I want to study in California, I plan to attend a Community College and then transfer. Apply to as many scholarships as I can and get a loan if necessary.
But I just want to know HOW so much students afford it, maybe I’m missing on something.
Their parents are wealthy.
You will pay full fees at the community college. When transferring to a California school, there are minimal to no scholarships. Most of the good scholarships are used for freshman.
Loans would have to come from your country, since US loans are funded by federal and state sources for US citizens.
I know I have to pay full tuition for Community College. As for loans, there are companies that offer loans for international students you just need a US citizen to co-singn, however I can get them here too.
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There are a few billion int’ls out there. Is it surprising that a number of them are wealthy enough to pay for this kids to go to school here?
As for getting an American cosigner. It’s not that easy and it’s risky for the cosigner. It’s asking a lot for someone to cosign your loans. And, don’t be surprised if some relative agrees, but then changes their mind at some point.
Taking on a lot of debt for undergrad is a bad idea. Not worth it.
How would you repay your loans? Going to school in the US means an education, but not a job.
International students are expected to return to their countries after graduation. How would you repay that large of a loan?
I have a relative who strongly encouraged me to study in the US and she is willing to co-singn for my loan. And I’m still able to get it in my country, which I have already researched before.
What Aunt Bea is saying is that even if you get $30-40k in loans in the US, if you return to your country the annual wage might not be comparable to US. A US based engineer might make $50k per year, but one in another country might make the equivalent of $20k, and that might be top dollar in that country. Still makes it hard to pay a $1000/month student loan repayment, and then the relative who co-signed for you would be on the hook for paying.
@Marie28 One issue to think about: If you start at community college for two years and then transfer to a 4 year university, the first two years will be slightly expensive, then the next two years will be VERY expensive (assume something close to $70,000 per year). You are not likely to get scholarships that are large enough to even matter at this scale of spending money.
If it were me, I would not even start at college or university in the US unless very confident that I wasn’t going to run out of money half way through. Also, if you borrow the money for the first two years, that doesn’t mean that it will even be possible to find any way to borrow the money to finish your degree.
If you already have the money to pay for this then you should feel free to spend it as you see fit. If you don’t and need to borrow, then paying off the resulting loans could be quite difficult.
I think that a lot of foreign students in the US either come from very wealthy parents, or have some “hook” which causes a US university to offer them a very good scholarship.
My daughter attends a school (not in CA) with a large number of foreign students. Most of them are from families of means. Some are being sponsored by their home governments. I’m not sure if they are eligible for the merit scholarships from the school, which most US students rely on as the tuition is quite expensive, but a few are athletes that do have athletic scholarships (not full rides by any means).
Most students, foreign or domestic, piece together financial aid as best they can. International students have a harder time as they aren’t eligible for federal government aid, most loans, and some scholarships. It’s tough.
You could also ask how can so many OOS students afford to go to school in CA? Yes some have wealthy parents but many have parents that have had long term saving plans for college. After dealing with the crazy college expenses my husband and I have decided to start saving for college for “potential” grandchildren long before our kids are even ready to think about having children.
I do have the money to pay for the first 2 years, what I need is the money for the next two years, which I’m already working on. I applied to a program in my home country that’s it’s going to help immensely with that. However, I don’t know if I’m going to get in, so I’m still searching for other options. I still have a lot or work to do regarding getting an education in the US, right now I’m just searching for options and figuring out things. I don’t plan to apply to any school for now, until I know that I can get the money to study abroad. As far as academics I know there’s many Universities that would accept me because I have talked about this with an academic adviser and I’ve done the research myself. What I need to focus on is the funding.
My original post didn’t meant to ask for personal advice, I guess it sounds like it but I just wanted to know how do international students afford to study in California, because during my research I realized there is a lot of international students in community colleges and universities in California.
3scoutsmom I know parents do a lot of planning so they can be able to send their kids to college. I really wish I was aware of the opportunitys and costs of attending college in the US waaay before. But the only schools that provide orientation on this topic where I live are the private ones.
twoinanddone thank you for that, it is something very important to take into consideration.
Many intl kids, depending on the country, are assisted by their governments or businesses, in return for what is like indentured servitude for a number of years.
If you’re the sort of kid who’d like to expand her horizons, be cautious you don’t chose in ways that reduce your options later- massive debt or owing years of service to a job you cannot get out of. That would be self defeating.
Maybe your better bet is to look at US schools for post grad. Or exchange programs during college or post grad fellowships that bring intl scholars here.
Be wise.