Recap: Exploring Financial Aid and Funding Options | Voice of America - English
How do you pay for your U.S. education?  Should you apply to a selective exchange or study abroad program?  Look for scholarships?  Take out loans?  Will you get your aid from the U.S. government, your school or a private company?There are many options and many decisions, and this month our bloggers spent some time writing about how they did their research and figured out how to afford their U.S. studies.Get Your Information Right Rudro says he almost gave up his opportunity to study in the U.S.
Sebastian is at the University of Kansas through a full scholarship offered by the Institute of International Education. He found the scholarship after completing his freshman year at a university in Bolivia and transferred to the U.S. to complete the rest of his education. Rudro ended up participating in a ?twinning? program, where he started his education in his native Malaysia and then transferred to a U.S. university for his junior and senior year. He says that by spending his first two years at a local community college, he was able to save enough money to afford doing the next two in the U.S. Senzeni is part of the U.S. Student Achievers Program, which she says has been a great experience. The program helps pay for various application fees and supports students in finding other sources of financial aid. Nick and Nareg both researched exchange programs, only to decide that they were better off relying on institutional financial aid ? scholarships and loans offered by their university. They say that exchange programs and scholarships are difficult to get, and eligibility requirements can be stringent, so they focused on getting good packages from their school. Jaime is American, but she also struggles with getting enough financial aid to afford her education. She received a federal work-study award, but says she is still communicating with her school?s financial aid office to identify more sources of funding.