<p>This is not me, this is the situation of someone I came into contact with and I really want to help him out.</p>
<p>He earned his bachelor's degree in Architecture from Yerevan State University of Architecture and Construction and was recently accepted to the Master of Architecture program at Columbia University. The total expenses are extremely large ($80000 annually) and he managed to obtain some competitive scholarships, which amount to approximately 60% of the total cost. However, he is still struggling to find the rest. His parents sold their house so he can receive the finest possible education, but even that isn't enough. The only option left for him is taking loans, but the problem with that is that since he's not a US citizen, he can ONLY take loans if I have a US citizen co-signer, but unfortunately he doesn't know any Americans who can take that financial risk.</p>
<p>He is a winner of many international architectural competitions where he represented Armenia as a country, has published papers in leading architectural magazines and has been voluntarily doing workshops and presentations regarding his achievements in Yerevan for his university, has taken part in restoration and historic preservation projects for two Armenian dilapidated churches, and much more.</p>
<p>Is there anyway he can receive help paying for the rest of his tuition?</p>
<p>My D is pursuing a masters degree at Columbia and her annual costs, housing and food included, don’t come near $80,000. How is your friend coming up with that number? Grad students in NYC learn to live frugally–housing in a cheaper location with a hefty commute, cooking their own meals, limiting social life to the many free activities available in the city, and, if they are international, not traveling home until their program is over. Does that describe your friend’s plans?</p>
<p>I agree with mommaJ. The cost of attending Columbia for grad school is NOT $80,000 a year.</p>
<p>From the Columbia website:</p>
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<p>That is $50,000 in tuition. Then the cost of fees would need to be added. Then housing and food. But the student fees would likely be less than $10,000 for the year. That would leave $20,000 a year for room/board if $80,000 was the budget.</p>
<p>As noted…most grad school students economize as best they can…sharing apartments and leaning to eat inexpensively…and not going out often.</p>
<p>But…maybe the costs would be $80,000 a year. If that is the case, I would strongly suggest your friend find a more affordable option. The only loans he would be able to secure would be based in his home country,</p>
<p>This school is not affordable if all he has is 60% of the cost of attending in aid.</p>
<p>What is the Cost of Attendance (COA) that the university has published for that program? That is the amount of money he will need to demonstrate that he has available, or he won’t get his student visa.</p>
<p>No, unless someone considers him worthy of the investment, whether it’s the school, his country, a company a person, a lender, no.
He does need to show he can pay COA. But in actual money to study here, I don’t think he needs that much to live as the poor struggling grad student he would be. My kids don’t get a big living allowance, though they don’t live like many of the international students they know. Many of them live in poverty for those years, living in cheap dumps, and scavenging to get their education for as little money as possible. That may be what he has to do.</p>
<p>Like I said upstream, tuition alone for the Columbia program is $49,000 a year. If he spent $1000 a mint for housing, that would bring the total to. $62,000. Add fees of say. $5000 (I’m guessing) and health insurance $3000. Up to $70,000. Then add food onto that. If he flies home once a year…add that cost too…and books and supplies. </p>
<p>Hmmm…maybe it would cost $80,000 for one year.</p>