Financing Your Study Abroad Experience

Ciao!  I thought that that it may be helpful to dedicate some time to talking about financing a study abroad experience.  After all, for many students, program cost is a major factor to take into account when considering study abroad prospects.

However, funding a study abroad experience can be a breeze – if you tap into your available resources.  For example, if you qualify for a PELL grant (filling out the FAFSA is extremely important!), part of that grant can be applied towards study abroad.  Financial aid will often cover courses under your major and minor if you are a full-time student (taking at least 12 credits).  You may be happy to know that financial aid can also apply towards summer sessions!   For more information about financial aid, I suggest scheduling a counseling session with the Office of Financial Aid Services.  The online FAFSA application is available at: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/.

Moreover, there are a plethora of scholarships and opportunities available to students (a few links will be appended at the end of this post to get you started) – presuming that your motivations for study abroad are sincere and articulate.  I recommend clearly conveying that you are serious about academic studies – otherwise, the committee reviewing your application might be hesitant about your intentions.

Once you’ve completed all the paperwork and received your scholarships, you have to continue to budget your funds.  Don’t spend all your money in the first week and regret it later.  You do not want to end up without enough money to get to the airport at the end of your journey.  Thus, have a sensible outline as to how much you intend to spend per day or per week.  It sounds like common sense, but having a simple plan is better than jumping blindly in and starving the last week.

See you all next time, where I’ll be disclosing my top five reasons for studying abroad.

A presto!

Further Reading:
STOCS Intersession Scholarship (CUNY)
CV STARR Fellowship (Baruch)
Gilman Scholarship
Office of Financial Aid Services at Baruch College
Further Scholarship and Grants Resources

Looking for a prior article in this series? Look no further:
Part I: La Mia Estate a Venezia