EDUCATION REPORT - Foreign Student Series #12: Financial AidBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, November 18, 2004

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Education Report.

Today, in part twelve of our Foreign Student Series, the subject is financial aid. This is an area to consider when you first begin to explore the idea of studying at a college or university in the United States.

Most of the students who come to America pay for their education with their own money or with money from their family. The group NAFSA: Association of International Educators says this is true of eighty-one percent of students.

That is because not much financial aid is offered to foreign students in the United States. Foreign graduate students have more chances than undergraduates do. Still, forty-seven percent of foreign graduate students pay for their studies with their own money or their family's money.

Most financial aid from government and private groups is restricted to American citizens. Some countries provide aid for their citizens to study in the United States, on the guarantee that they return home to work.

The United States government provides aid for students from some countries. You can ask for details at an American Embassy or an office of the United States Agency for International Development. A local university may also have such information.

And some American schools do provide financial aid to foreign students. A list of these can be found at a useful Web site. This site also provides information about where to write for financial help. And it warns foreign students not to pay if any money is requested for scholarship application forms. You could be cheated. The address is edupass.org. That's e-d-u-p-a-s-s-dot-o-r-g.

The site also tells how to order publications such as Funding for U.S. Study -- A Guide for International Students and Professionals. This guide lists more than six hundred places where international students can get help paying for their studies. Again, the site is edupass.org.

A lot of information about financial aid can be found on the Internet. If you do not have a computer, you might be able to use one at a local school or an educational advising center.

Another useful site for students is operated by the State Department. That address is educationusa.state.gov. Our Foreign Student Series continues next week. You can find the reports online at voaspecialenglish dot com.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Gwen Outen.