Financial Aid and Scholarships

Transcription

1 Financial Aid and Scholarships

2 What is Financial Aid? Money given, paid or loaned to help pay for college Gift Aid Grants and Scholarships (free money) Self-Help Aid Work-Study (job opportunity to earn money) Loans (money borrowed that must be repaid)

3 Who Offers Scholarships and Financial Aid? The main ones that students consider are: USA Offers the most. Mainly in private universities if you are not a US Citizen. Merit, Need-based, IB, Athletic, Service, etc. UK Some Merit scholarships, especially in Science and Math fields Canada Some Merit scholarships also Scholarships for IB, internationalism, leadership and service. Hong Kong some Merit scholarships Malaysia some Merit scholarships engineering for example at Heriot-Watt

4 US Aid for Foreign Students Usually only private colleges offer aid. It comes in two forms- Merit scholarships and Need-based financial aid. Some colleges have Need-blind admissions policies money is not an issue / factor for admitting, but you need to check if for International Students or not e.g: Brown offers US but not Intl. State colleges may have merit scholarships for foreign students but do not offer Needbased aid

5 Need Blind Opportunities for International Harvard University Princeton University Yale University Dartmouth College Students Massachusetts Institute of Technology Amherst College Further information can be found here:

6 Merit scholarships Need-aid Criteria High School Grades High SAT scores Essays Teacher recommendations Academic excellence / highly selective This is gift aid and is usually renewable for four years if the student maintains good grades Criteria The college considers the student s application first. If the application is accepted they then consider the family s financial situation and calculate their need. The aid is given as: Academic Scholarships Work study Need-based Grants and loans

7 Philosophy of Financial Aid Parents have the primary responsibility to pay for their dependent children s education and should plan ahead for these costs. Students also have a responsibility to pay for some of their educational expenses. Evaluation of family ability to contribute should be fair.

8 How to Apply for Aid 1. Find out application requirements and deadlines 2. Fill out forms completely, accurately and legibly 3. Make copies of all completed forms 4. Meet deadlines (obtain proof of mailing!) 5. There is a good website here which provides a simple overview

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10 How need is calculated Cost of Attendance (COA) Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Student s Financial Need (eligibility)

11 Cost of Attendance (varies from College to College) Tuition and fees Room and board Books and supplies Transportation Miscellaneous personal expenses Loan fees, study abroad costs,

12 Determining the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Income Asset Equity (excluding home equity) Family Size Number of Family Members in College (excludes parent enrolled in college) Age of Parents

13 Financial Aid Myths Students with the highest grades get all the aid Income is too high don t apply Attend the college which offers most aid There is no aid for Foreign students.

14 Examples of Scholarships Illinois Technical Institute $16,000 a yr. U Melbourne 75% of Tuition College of St Scholastica - Full tuition Parsons New York -$22,000 Babson College Merit Scholarship Loyola New Orleans Music scholarship See also the full list on Naviance

15 Great scholarships out there include: Georgia Rotary Scholarship all costs for one year of study in Georgia USA NYU Abu Dhabi all financial need met for tuition and board Hong Kong University Academic Scholarships SPJain Global Management University Singapore up to 75% of tuition. American University USA International Scholarship tuition, room and board. Northeastern University USA International Scholarship tuition room and board Robertson Scholarship Duke and UNC Tuition, room and board. University of Rochester IB Scholarship up to $16,000 a year

16 Early Action and Early Decision Programmes for the well-prepared student whose profile easily meets or exceeds the universities published standards; who has completed all required standardized testing and who has already made good progress on application forms and essays by early October In other words you MUST demonstrate you have the PROFILE they are looking for. Deadline for applications is November 1st

17 Demonstrated Interest. Visiting universities or attending their sessions at BIS or higher education fairs Writing to universities to ask intelligent questions ( s to representatives or admissions) Showing that you have really researched the university through college essays.

18 Early Action and Early Decision Early Action is: Non binding a student who is accepted does not have to decide until May 1st and will usually apply to other universities Allows freedom you know you have a good offer, but you can wait if you wish to hear from others. Early Decision is: Binding if the student is admitted he/she is honour bound to accept and withdraw any other applications in any country. BIS is required to sign off these applications

19 Question time? Cheryl Brown BIS