What International Students Should Know About Financial Aid | Paying for College

On top of tuition and fees, housing, books and other supplies, international students face additional costs compared to their domestic peers when studying at colleges in the U.S. Some of those supplementary expenses include visa application fees and international airfare.

While earning an education in the U.S. can be expensive – especially with fluctuating exchange rates – there are ways for international students to reduce their total cost of attendance. Although funding for them is often more limited, experts say, international students may qualify for certain types of merit or need-based aid.

Here’s what to know about applying for college financial aid as an international student.

Unlike domestic students, international students don’t qualify for federal or state aid and typically use personal and other financial resources, mainly from outside the U.S., to cover tuition and expenses. But there are options available at the institutional level, including grants and scholarships.

First-time-in-college international students at Howard University in Washington, D.C., for instance, aren’t eligible for need-based aid until their second year. But they can still qualify for merit aid through Howard University Freshman Scholarships, which expire after four years of enrollment.

“Like with any student, if we request documentation, whether it’s income data or household size or transcripts or whatever the case might be, provide those as soon as possible,” says Robert T. Muhammad, director of financial aid at Howard.

“Make sure that in working with your international office on campus, that you are coded correctly,” Muhammad adds. “We sometimes find that there will be a false positive, where a student will actually be a domestic student or an eligible nonresident student, but they may be coded incorrectly somewhere else.”

International students can also take out private loans, although many financial aid experts advise against taking on too much debt.

“I don’t think going $200,000 in debt is a good idea,” says Mandee Heller Adler, a certified educational planner and founder of International College Counselors, a college advising company. Avoiding or limiting debt by going to college in a country with lower tuition rates, like the U.K., might be a better option, Adler says. “For me, as a human and a college counselor, I’d probably recommend that more than having a child take on $200,000 debt when they are 21 years old,” she says.

To apply for financial aid, prospective international students may be required to fill out the International Student Financial Aid Application, or ISFAA, or the CSS Profile, which is used by private colleges. Some universities may also have their own forms.

Adler says in very rare cases, a school may require international students to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. But because a Social Security number is required to fill out the online FAFSA, the form would have to be submitted on paper to attempt to receive institutional aid.

Aid deadlines vary per school, but typically they align with application deadlines.

Experts say some students may be afraid to let schools know they are applying for financial aid, as “need awareness” is often considered in admissions. This means that an applicant’s ability to pay for college may be a factor in the admissions decision.

“Even though they might accept you and then help support you once you are there, they might not accept you because of the fact that you are a far more expensive accept then someone who might be able to pay the full freight,” Adler says.

Very few schools are need-blind, which means an applicant’s financial situation is not considered in the admission decision. It’s also important to note that some schools may be need-blind for U.S. citizens and need-aware for international students.

“It’s always important that international students understand kind of what category they fall into with financial aid,” says Joanna May, vice president for enrollment at Smith College in Massachusetts.

Schools often have limited funding for international students, with most going to graduate students, experts say.

“They are using most of their resources for U.S. citizens, partially because they can’t rely on federal aid as well to help fund those students,” May says.

Historically, it hasn’t been easy for international students to study in the U.S., as many have to dip into savings or take out loans, if they are not personally wealthy, Adler says.

“It’s only in recent years that I’ve seen that you have so many more students around the world who don’t have a lot of money who are coming, and I think a lot of those are to the very wealthy colleges who can afford to (cover their) full fare,” she says.

Experts advise international students to consider colleges they might not have heard of, instead of only applying to schools with a highly recognizable name brand.

“Colleges are looking for international diversity,” Adler says. “And it’s also proximity. So all the kids in the Caribbean and South America might apply to schools in the Southwest or the southeast United States, but if you’re open to going to the Midwest, or (other parts of the country) … that’s a great opportunity. So maybe stepping out of your comfort zone a little bit. But that also makes it harder for you as an international student because then you might really be culturally out of your comfort zone.”

While public colleges may seem like the obvious choice for a cheaper education, May says international students should not count out private colleges.

“Because of the type of aid that we offer, it often can be more affordable for any student to go to a private college who gives significant financial aid than even a state university in-state or a university in an international student’s home country,” she says.

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