Understanding Certification of Finances

Student Lounge International Students
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“A CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY (Form 1-20 or DS-2019) will not be authorized until this form is completed and
returned to the institution to which you are applying. The institution will attach a copy of this of this form to your certificate of eligibility. both the form and certificate must be shown to the US consul to obtain a visa”

Questions:

  1. All the colleges I am applying to early (including Tulane) require this COF to be submitted BY November 15 2018. Also, they require you to have a specific high amount in your bank account. For example, Tulane requires you to have about $45,000. But what if you don’t have that amount but you are applying for and expecting financial aid? I mean, Tulane could give me aid, but what if it’s less than we can afford as stated on the COF?

a) will they reject me since my COF shows i cannot afford?
b) could they accept me but then could my visa request be declined?

  1. Doesn't showing you can afford the very high fees on the COF mean that you don't need financial aid at all? I mean, you've literally uploaded a bank statement showing that you have the money for the first year and maybe other years of study. So why should they give you a scholarship??
  2. If my parents simply cannot afford more than $5,000, do they have to genuinely take a bank loan or genuinely borrow money, put in the bank account just so it shows that we can afford, so that i can be accepted?

I don’t understand how they can expect you to show what you can pay BEFORE you receive your aid package. Because some people can talk to relatives, etc, who can legit help with fees!

Please help me understand. What you should know about me is that we cannot afford more than about $2000-$5000, and also, we simply do not have more than $5000 in any bank accounts currently. Also, know that there is a relative who can help with fees should they impose a high fee on me (guaranteed).

What should I do??

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Do the places that require this form offer financial aid to internationals students?

If so, you need to ask each of them separately about the best way to complete the form.

Yes, some places that are need-sensitive will reject students who would need too much financial aid.

Yes, you can be accepted but still be denied your student visa. That decision is up to the visa officer who interviews you.

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Tulane asks you to certify the maximum amount of money you and your family could contribute. They note that international freshman applicants have to certify at least $20,735 per year because the largest award that international students qualify for is a full-tuition scholarship.

There’s an implicit understanding that you won’t be offered admission if the university cannot meet the difference between your certified resources and the cost of attendance with scholarships or financial aid. Tulane is unusually frank about it, but you should expect that to be true everywhere. (“If the amount a student certifies combined with merit and need-based scholarships we are able to offer is below $77,535, we may not be able to offer admission at that time.”)

https://admission.tulane.edu/sites/g/files/rdw771/f/TulaneCertificationofFinances2018.pdf

If you have access to a bank loan for your education, you can attach a bank letter that shows the maximum loan amount available to you. No need to actually take out the loan yet.