There is a wide gamut of opportunities that you can avail through overseas education but financing such educations is really tough, given the presence education scenario and its cost. Students,who want to enhance their academic career as well as experiences, opt for overseas education but there is a handful that is so privileged.
Those students who do get an opportunity to study abroad are benefitted in more than one way:
- They get a chance to develop a better understanding of the world
- Have a deeper outlook
- Increase their tolerance and cultural awareness
- Get to learn skills that will enhance their career marketability opportunities and
- Ensure their personal growth.
They usually have a better cultural immersion which generally accompanies with education abroad. They develop a better competence among students of different cultural background which in turn helps them to create a diversified employment opportunities in the future.
However, education abroad will cost you nothing less than six times the cost of studying in your country, no matter whichever country you want to go to. This is because you will have to find means to support you as well as your cost of education. This will involve your food, lodging, transport and even medical expenses.
With all these nuances in studying abroad to take care of, you will need to have a proper and strategic planning for studying abroad, especially the finance aspect. This is the most crucial component of overseas education and it is also the primary reason that most students end up doing odd jobs in foreign countries even before completing the first year of their stay to be eligible for applying for a student visa.
The planning process
There are a few specific guidelines to finance your study abroad and it all starts with immaculate planning way ahead of time. You may find different options but it is necessary that you choose a suitable student option that will not only serve your purpose but will not put you in debt or any kind of financial stresses in the future by the time you complete your studies abroad.
Getting a financial aid to study abroad is therefore of utmost importance for students those who especially lack sufficient financial resources. Ideally there are three distinctive sources that you can look for to obtain such financial help. These are:
International scholarships: In order to finance you study abroad you may look for scholarships. There are several international scholarships can be found here that are truly designed for students like you and are an ideal resource to help you in financing your studies abroad. There are several different universities as well as government programs that offer scholarships to international students. There are several eminent scholars of the past as well as of the present who have availed such scholarships for their higher studies abroad. Few of these may comprise of several things such as:
- 100% tuition fee waiver
- Living expenses
- Cost of travelling
- Accommodation as well as other expenditures.
To study abroad these are very useful and effective resources that will enormously reduce your burden of financial management.
International student loans: You may even consider taking up a student loan designed specifically for international students to finance your study abroad. This is also a useful alternative provided by several financial institutions especially for those students who fail to obtain a scholarship. These international loans are significantly different from international scholarships. Ideally, with the loanscomes an added responsibility of repaying the entire sum along with interest to the financial institution after a certain time as specified in the loan agreement. However, in case of international scholarships there is no such liability from your end.
Bursary: Sometimes the universities itself provide some kind of a financial help to finance your study abroad. However, there is a difference between a bursary and a scholarship.
- These aids are offered at a sliding scale which is ideally inversely proportional to your financial means. To get such financial help you must apply to the Bursary’s office at the specific university that you have been admitted to.
- Moreover, a bursary will not cover your entireeducation expenses. It will only help you to augment your primary source of funds.
Typically, this is an elegant solution to finance your study abroad especially when you find that all other alternatives have run out.
Tips to get started
Now that you know about the different student options to finance your study abroad, it is time to get started by following the right steps at the right time. Make sure you start early so that things do not get out of your hands.
- To start with, you must check out all those scholarship options that are offered by the specific university that you have applied to. However, you may not be lucky always because in most of the cases such scholarships may not be available.
- When you do not, look out for other sources and when you do find a few, get acquainted with the complete process for applying for such scholarships. Take help from the advisors right from the very beginning to keep the process simple, easy and fast. Get in touch with the ‘study in abroad’ cell of the university or even your professors, academic advisors, the office of the financial aid and ask them about these scholarships or grants.
- Next, you must visit these offices in-person rather than calling or emailing to ask for advice regarding your scholarship to study abroad. This approach will make it easier for you as well as the study abroad office or even your professors to help you. Apart from that it will also create a better impression on them regarding your sincerity and clear determination. Such an initiative will eventually help in arriving at an effective solution when you discuss about financial aid with them.The hardest part of getting scholarships to study abroad is to get them and for that you will have to research, research, and research. The more you find to apply for, the more aid you will get.
