<p>My son and his friends were all talking college applications this weekend. All of them are looking heavily at schools with good study abroad options. The talk turned to going abroad to college as an option in and of itself. A lot of international students look to go to schools in the US that give good financial aid to internationals. What are the options for US students who would like to go to school in other countries, especially if they require significant financial aid? We are aware of a number of options in Israel, but what other opportunities are available, especially in the Far East or South America?</p>
<p>First, there are very few schools in the U.S. that provide “good” financial aid or even ANY financial aid to international students, and only a handful offer “full rides” to less than 1 percent of the hundreds of thousands of international students who study here.</p>
<p>U.S. students who need significant financial aid face much the same challenge at foreign universities. Some Federal loans are portable, but other forms of financial aid are not. Some universities outside the U.S., in particular Canadian universities, do have some merit scholarships available for “international” students, but they are seldom large enough to cover all costs if a student has significant need. Even many private scholarship organizations restrict the use of their scholarships to colleges in the U.S. (with the exception of studying abroad as part of attending a U.S. college). </p>
<p>By the way, since your son’s friends are also interested in studying abroad while attending a U.S. college, please encourage them to ask a lot of questions about how financial aid comes into play when applying for study abroad programs. While most colleges will happily tell prospective students that financial aid can be applied to studying abroad, many schools set up special hoops for financial aid students that make studying abroad difficult for those receiving financial aid, regardless of how good the school’s study abroad program appears. Students who need significant financial aid, and hope to study abroad, need to ask very pointed questions about how their work study, institutional grants, and transportation costs will be covered by financial aid, and also whether they will be limited in their study abroad options because of receiving financial aid.</p>
<p>I have read that programs in Sweden are still relatively inexpensive for international students, although of course the cost of living is quite high there. </p>
<p>A number of US institutions offer full four-year programs abroad, although the number of majors is not as great as in the home institutions. Two that I know of are American University in Paris and U of Richmond in London. There is also one in Switzerland, but it’s not coming to me at the moment. Unfortunately, these are expensive and offer little fiancial aid. However, I believe any federal aid for which a student qualifies can be used in these schools.</p>
<p>There actually seems to be more available at the graduate level. For example, we know a young man who is in a graduate program in Leuwen, Belgium, and everything is taught in English. I don’t know specifics about costs, but he said it was reasonable.</p>
<p>Not to hijack, but a question to Carolyn - are there cases where a student can have a work study job while studying abroad? My daughter has a work study award now, but I just assumed it would not be available for the year she will spend in Russia.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the information so far. It’s a good start for them to research this.</p>
<p>Are these students fluent in the language of the countries they want to study in? Study abroad may be taught in English; foreign universities in non-English speaking countries usually aren’t.</p>
<p>Otherwise, they’re limited to English-speaking countries or American universities abroad.</p>
<p>I know you didn’t mention the UK, but a friend of my S is going to St. Andrews in Scotland and is thrilled about it.</p>
<p>I remember my high school Japanese teacher showing us a scholarship sponsored by the Japanese government for foreigners to attend a university in Japan for four years. If accepted, they give you a year of intensive training in Japanese then you must be able to pass the university’s entrance exam which can be extremely hard depending on the school. I don’t think anyone applied for it from my school.</p>
<p>Many UK schools are anxious to have American students (both undergrads and grads). Although scholarships vary from non-existent to fairly generous, they are very good about making the process of using US financial aid very easy.</p>
<p>American students can enroll directly in many international universities and pay a fraction of what they’d pay in the US. The problem is accreditation: students need to verify with their own university, ahead of time, that the classes they take overseas will be accepted by their home school. Public schools are quicker to accept credit from international institutions with which they are not formally alligned – it’s harder if you’re at a private. </p>
<p>Countries that are the most popular for direct enrollment include England, Scotand, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand… India is becoming popular as well. There are also English-language programs available in Denmark, Holland, Japan and Egypt. Google ‘diect enrollment US students foreign universities’ and you’ll find a lot of information.</p>
<p>A few of Ds friends are going abroad, but after reading this article, I realize there are considerations that we might not think about.
[Local</a> News | Amanda Knox’s family discuss emotional and financial toll of murder case | Seattle Times Newspaper](<a href=“The Seattle Times | Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.”>The Seattle Times | Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.)</p>
<p>I don’t mean to scare anyone off- but with a daughter who is planning on spending at least two or three months in Africa- I am going to try to find out as much as I can about customs and procedures in the area where she will be going, as well as establishing contact with adults that she already knows in the region.</p>
<p>I agree that it’s something to think about - American kids may not understand that “freedom of speech” isn’t guaranteed everywhere; that if they get in trouble, they may not necessarily be “presumed innocent until proven guilty”; that they may not have the right against self-incrimination or the right to an attorney.</p>
<p>Small transgressions (not even talking about a murder charge!) can become big problems.</p>
<p>Not to hijack, but a question to Carolyn - are there cases where a student can have a work study job while studying abroad? My daughter has a work study award now, but I just assumed it would not be available for the year she will spend in Russia.>></p>
<p>It really depends on the program. If it’s a location and program run by the school she attends and they have a need for on-site student help, perhaps there will be opportunities for work study jobs – but most of my kids who have significant financial aid find they’re out of luck with work study while studying abroad.</p>
<p>If students can pay “full freight” or close to it for attending a university overseas for all four years (not Study abroad for a year or semester), Australia, Canada, Ireland and the UK would be my main suggestions, especially if they hope to go on to graduate school in the future. But, students need to understand that the curriculum and systems can be very different outside the U.S. and make sure that it is right for them and their goals.</p>
<p>One of my son’s friends is very fluent in Spanish and would like to go to university in South America; the other would just like the experience of going to college in India, but as a regular student not just as a study-abroad experience. He wants something more enveloping like student from India who study in the US as regular undergrad students.</p>
<p>American University in Cairo is a reasonably priced foreign university where all classes are taught in English. They recently have built a beautiful new campus with nice dorms and classrooms. It is definitely worth consideration for a U.S. student interesting in studying abroad.</p>
<p>You can go to St. Louis University’s Madrid Spain Campus for four years and graduate from there. If you decide studying in Madrid is not for you, all of your classes are St. Louis University campus - you can switch to the U.S. campus to finish - you don’t have to “transfer” or anything.</p>
<p>Happykid is seriously interested in Australia - here are a couple of links I found while tracking down information:</p>
<p>[AustraLearn:</a> Study in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific ? providing semester and year abroad, internship, summer, and degree programs abroad](<a href=“http://www.australearn.org/]AustraLearn:”>http://www.australearn.org/)</p>
<p>[The</a> Australian Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS)](<a href=“http://cricos.deewr.gov.au/?Redirect=Y]The”>http://cricos.deewr.gov.au/?Redirect=Y)</p>
<p>The best piece of news is that international students in Australia receive work permits, and can find jobs either on or off campus for up to 20 hours a week. This would mean that while Happydad and I would have to come up with the airfare and tuition, Happykid could make enough money there to pay her own living expenses.</p>
<p>Having lived in South America, my advice would be for anyone interested in studying there to contact the Education officers at the consulates of the countries that are of interest. It will also help if they know anyone personally in the countries they are looking at who can help them with the red tape, and with housing. Most South American universities don’t have on-campus housing like in the US.</p>
<p>These kids could also consider a year exchange program ([AFS</a> Intercultural Programs](<a href=“http://www.afs.org%5DAFS”>http://www.afs.org) [Youth</a> For Understanding](<a href=“http://www.yfu.org%5DYouth”>http://www.yfu.org)) to test the waters. If they hunt around, they may find a program that will let them enroll in a university rather than in a secondary school.</p>