Finance

Today the dream of students to study abroad is not a distant one unlike in the past, what with the number of banks, both home and abroad, as well as educational institutions ready to finance a student’s aspirations with several easy to avail loans, funding and scholarships. A sound approach taking in to consideration the financial aspects like the overall fees, necessary facilities and books, regular expenses related to travel, accommodation, food and the like as well as incidentals would make planning for things a lot easier with an eye on the future.

As in most cases student loans are sanctioned only when the admission of the student has been confirmed in an institute abroad often the first year expenses have to be borne by the student at least partly. Banks take in to consideration the academic record of the student, the nature of the course, the annual income of the parents and assets, to be kept as security; the repayment plans usually commence after a certain time period following completion of the course (usually 6 months) or after getting a job whatever occurs first.

If one applies for a loan abroad then generally a person who is a citizen of the country is required to sign the required documents along with the recipient (student) to act as security regarding repayment for the loan; apart from banks various trusts and foundations plus corporate bodies also finance studying abroad though in specific cases.

With regards to scholarships and special funding by the institutions themselves the former are awarded usually to students on the basis of merit, depending on the type of course like for example MBA, biotechnology and engineering courses have a higher chance of being funded as compared to undergraduate courses.

In the case one wants to study in the UK paying for higher studies is generally affordable as the duration of most courses is one year; in the US most universities funded by the state have significantly less amount of fees as compared to private ones. The expenses that one may incur if one intends to study in the US for a post graduate course would be around $12-15,000 for a two year course in a public community college while a four year course would cost around 18-25,000 in a public institution. Also one option for most students is to work part time in the university itself and thereby be self sufficient regarding one’s daily expenses.

Ideally one should have finalized one’s financial strategy by the time one applies for a visa as the granting of the same often depends a great deal on one’s ability to bear the expenses, whether partly or fully self sufficient.

Resources :
http://www.britishcouncil.org/india-scholarships-chevening.htm
http://educationusa.state.gov/finaid.htm