I assume they get out of state tuition rates. So for tuition and cost of living they probably spend around $33k or so a year (18k school, 15k living expenses). So how does all that get paid for because my college has tons of international students, many from poor countries.
in case anyone wonders, i considered it ‘rude’ to ask any of them personally due to the taboos on discussing finances with strangers. Not that i believe in such social rules but other people do.
I don’t know if this is common or not, but my college offered need-based financial aid for international students and did give some gifted but poor foreign students full scholarships.
However, most of the international students from poor countries that I knew were from the upper classes and could more than afford the costs without worrying about aid.
As cckerberos said, many colleges have some financial aid available to foreign students. Also, sometimes governments, NGO’s, private foundations, corporations and others help pay for education in the U.S. But mostly, the answer to your question is that they pay with a big, fat, undiscounted, unscholarshiped check payable in U.S. dollars. I know at least some colleges are worried about actual and proposed new (post 9-11) rules regarding foreign scholarship in the U.S. precisely because that’s where they were finding a lot of their students who paid full freight. I don’t know (nor is this the place to argue) whether those fears are justified.
In what universe would someone need 15k per year for living expenses for college? Most of the foreign students I knew in college lived in the dorms and had meal plans.
Dammit! That’s twice. Please mentally remove the sig from the above post – that was in no way an official, semi-official, or retired-official post. I apologize (again) for the error.
Well, when I was studying in the states, my money came from three sources:
A scholarship from a Canadian government research council;
Federal and provincial student loans;
First Bank of Mum & Dad (also loans, just on more generous terms).
I would echo friedo’s point - it’s been a while, but even adjusting for inflation there’s no way I paid the equivalent in $15,000 for room & board. :eek: I stayed in res and used the university meal plan.
ok 15k was a little high and i realized that when i was typing it in the original post but decided better to exageratte on the side of error. 9k is a better estimate for living expenses but it still comes to about 27k a year.
I was an exchange student to England. I paid tuition which I expect was used to pay for the student coming over here. Simple really.
I guess it depends whether you’re an undergraduate or a grad student.
I’m a foreign grad student here in the US, and by the time i pay for rent, utilities, books, food, etc. i definitely need 15 grand, and this doesn’t include much entertainment, or trips away, or research trips and expenses.
As a foreigner applying to grad school, i essentially had to limit my applications, paradoxically enough, to very expensive private universities. Those are generally the only schools with enough money to give their grad students a free ride through most or all of their degree, and i could not have afforded to come here otherwise.
My school currently charges about $28,000 a year in fees. For grad students, this amount generally applies for the first four years of your degree, after which you are considered a “non-resident” candidate and are only charged 10% of this, on the assumption that you spend most of your time off-campus researching and writing your dissertation (almost all grad programs here are PhDs; very few terminal Masters programs).
The university covers my fees for those first four years; after that, i’m responsible for finding the $2,800-a-year non-resident fee, although there are rumours that this fee is going to be reduced or waived very soon. The university also currently covers two thirds of my medical insurance bill.
On top of the fees, we also get four years of funding in the form of a stipend, which is not much, but is pretty much enough to live on for the nine months that make up the school year, September to May. You really need a job over the summer to supplement the stipend, and this is harder for international students, because our visas (usually F1 status) severely restrict the type of paid work we are allowed to do. I’ve been lucky enough to get a couple of good research assistant jobs on campus, which is allowed under the terms of my visa. I could also work in the library, or an admin job on campus.
After the four years of funding runs out, we are essentially on our own, but there are quite a lot of scholarships and fellowships available from foundations, universities, etc. These are very competitive, and often very hard to get, but they exist. Also, some universities, libraries, and archives have available smaller grants to help defray the costs of travel and accommodation for research trips. Again, foreign students are often restricted here, as many fellowships and grants require the applicant to be a US citizen.
Speaking from personal experience here. I’m from India (therefore qualifying as poor country), and I went to the UK and Germany to study. There are three options open to someone wanting to study abroad:
Student scholarship: As mentioned, these usually go to the very bright students… chances of someone with even above-average grades getting such scholarships are not good. These may be offered by the university itself, or by certain philanthropic institutions. Selection procedure is rather stringent in the said institutions.
Student loans: This is what I availed of. Some banks in India offer soft student loans (low ROI, very long term repayment). While it’s not easy to obtain such loans, they are a good option. The banks require some sort of collateral - either someone stands guarrantor for you, or you mortgage some property with the bank.
Bank of Mom&Dad: Plenty of people using this route… more than you would imagine from a country like India.
I’ll second gouda’s points. IMHO, most students from our country opt for option 3.
It is usually only the affluent students from our country who can afford these tuition fees, but there are many such. Even if you take a student loan, you still need to be able to repay the amount, which is extremely difficult for students from here unless they have the financial backing of their parents/guardians. Securing a teaching or research assistantship eases the burden to some extent.
One year in the dorms I lived next door to an international student from Pakistan. He was the youngest of three boys. His parents were doctors in Pakistan and had paid for the older sons to attend school in the states. The oldest brother has a steady job (and well-paying I assume) now and was expected to pay for the youngest’s college education since the exchange rate is pretty bad for his parents. To give an idea of the exchange rate, I remember him telling me that I could live in Pakistan comfortably, with servants, for what would be beneath the poverty level (don’t remember the exact figure) here in the States.
There was a Saudi Arabian (he was lots of fun after “the Jews attacked on 9/11”) who was studying computer science with the Royal Family (read: “government”) footing the bill.
In addition to coming from wealthier families, I’ve noticed it is usually international students working in the cafeteria or custodial jobs on campus. The Pakistani I mentioned above has had a couple of different jobs, and he didn’t have to pay taxes on what he earned.
If this is true, then Pakistan must have some really sweet tax treaty in place with the United States. I’m a Canadian citizen who just recently finished grad school in the U.S., and I can assure you that income earned by student visa holders from jobs in the U.S. is quite taxable (at non-resident rates, which is IRS-speak for “ouchie”). The only way it could be different for your friend is if he has a tax-treaty exemption.
While I’m here, let me make one addition to mhendo’s excellent post: most international grad students that I’ve met are receiving are working as teaching assistants.
I was an exchange student about 7 years ago… Geez time flies.
I received a scholarship from my country (France), and a discount on tuitions from the University (that I believe every foreign student had) and I tool a personal loan…
I also work in the language lab as a French tutor (thank God, that’s how I met my husband!) and was making 5 bucks an hour for “pocket money”. As a student I wasn’t allowed to work outside of the campus.
I was lucky to have my parents to help me a bit.
You’re right about those tax rates, although there are indeed some countries with sweet tax treaties. I have German friends in my program who pay no taxes at all on their stipend. I also, however, know of foreign students (and, indeed, American students) who find cash-in-hand jobs that allow them to stay under the IRS radar.
And thanks for reminding me. I did forget to mention that grad students who receive funding are usually obligated to work as TAs in return. The amount of such work that you have to do depends largely upon the school. I’ve known some grad students in large state universities who have really heavy teaching loads, while at my school we tend to get of reasonably lightly because there is a comparatively high grad/undergrad ratio.