Study Abroad: Other Financial Aid Funding Sources

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Okay, so we can all use some more money; however, this section is designed as a place to start when you need to look for more loans, scholarships, or grants to defray the cost of your time abroad. By no means is this list exhaustive. Plenty of money for education is out there! You just need to look around for it! Use the Web, reference books, your study abroad office, your home-university financial aid office, and your abroad university's international student office. If you or your parents are involved with any community organizations, religious groups, or special interest organizations, ask about the possibility of scholarship money for your study abroad experience.

Useful Web sites

When it comes to looking for money, often the Internet is the easiest place to start. The following list includes some of the most comprehensive and reliable sites on educational funding out there:

• Department of Education (www.ed.gov): The Department of Education provides financial aid information and the FAFSA online. You can determine your eligibility for federal aid, fill out, renew, or check the status of your FAFSA online.
• Students.gov (www.students.gov): Students.gov provides easy access to information and services you can use for planning and paying for a semester or year abroad. This site is a cooperative effort between federal agencies, students, and other parts of the higher education community, under the leadership of the U.S. Department of Education.
• FinAid.org (www.finaid.org): FinAid's homepage features a "SmartStudent Guide to Financial Aid," information about scholarships and loans, and calculators that help you come up with your EFC, loan repayment plans, and loan comparison information.
• FASTWEB (www.fastweb.com): FASTWEB offers online scholarship and college search services that compare your background with a database of awards. Only those awards that fit your profile are identified as matches. This free service is part of the largest, most accurate, and most frequently updated scholarship database.
• The College Board Homepage (www.collegeboard.com): The College Board Homepage provides PROFILE form registrations, an online PROFILE application process, and articles about paying for college.
• International Education Financial Aid (www.iefa.org): International Education Financial Aid is a scholarship search tool for students who want to study abroad. It also features grant listings and links to international student loan programs.
• International Education Finance Corporation (www.iefc.com): International Education Finance Corporation provides international student loans to students who want to study in foreign countries.
• International Student.com (www.internationalstudent.com/scholarships): This Web site offers a Study Abroad Scholarship Search tool for international students. On it you can find college scholarship programs by country, field of study, or university name. Lists of programs are available for undergraduate students anywhere in the world.
• Sallie Mae (www.salliemae.com): Sallie Mae provides numerous consumer credit loans for education.

Scholarship and grant information

Scholarships and grants qualify as gift aid, which means they're free money, or money that you won't have to repay. Grants are based on financial need, and some can be used to pay any education-related expense. On the other hand, most scholarships are restricted to paying all or part of tuition expenses, but some also cover room and board. Scholarships tend to be restricted to students in specific courses of study, from particular ethnic or geographic backgrounds, or with academic, athletic, or artistic talents — your intention to study abroad qualifies you as special, too. Most U.S.-based study abroad programs offer some kind of scholarship or grant program to participants, ranging from several hundred dollars to fully paid tuition. Ask your study abroad program or university about award amounts, applications, and criteria.