How to Search Online For Universities with Financial Aid

While prestigious scholarships like the Fulbright and Chevening are well-known to many international students, what many do not realize is that there are a number of American universities that offer their own financial aid packages for study on their campuses.

For bright, hard-working students, financial aid may be available in a variety of forms. Some aid is provided directly by institutions. Other aid involves competitions that are open to students of any institution. Financial aid could involve tuition discounts, assistantships, college-work study, and partial scholarships. Each of these can entail different amounts of money that will be used to defray (or lower) the costs of studying in the North American university. However, in almost all cases, it is expected that students will have to supplement the costs of studying with their own resources—from their families, from private organizations or from government programs in their home countries. In fact, over 80 percent of international students’ tuition payments in the U.S. are made through financial aid from their home countries (see www.nafsa.org).

You can research and identify institutions that provide financial aid by yourself if you have Internet access or by visiting an educational or career center that offers Internet access. Keep in mind that to qualify for financial aid, you’ll need a strong academic record (including positive letters of recommendation, excellent grades, and high TOEFL and other test scores) and you will need to present yourself as interesting candidate through a detailed package of materials.
If you are an exceptional candidate, there are a number of steps that you need to take to identify universities with financial aid and obtain that aid. Let’s hear from one student, Waddah al-Mansoori, who is currently studying in Canada, on how he succeeded.

First of all, you need a plan. The plan is simple - what you want to study and your future goals. These should be as detailed as you possibly can make them. Most admissions officers would not find the statement, for example, “I want to be an IT specialist because I like computers” very interesting. Do you understand the field well enough to explain why a university should select you for admission and financial aid that could be worth tens of thousands of dollars? Once you have something clear in mind, draft a statement of purpose and share it with friends or with people who have already traveled abroad to get feedback and improve your plan.

Second, now that you have developed a clear idea of what you would like to study, you need to make a list of universities that you can research and learn more about. Go online and check websites that provide information about fields of study. You can visit sites like Peterson’s (www.petersons.com) to start your search. Another handy site to visit is the YouTube education channel at www.youtube.com/edu. Waddah says, “I opened the Google search engine and started searching for universities that offer ‘graduate programs in Databases,’ since I am interested in doing my master's research in that area. I got search results with a lot of universities that offered the same program I am interested in.”

Third, read the university websites and learn about the institutions. Look for links called “Admissions” or “Prospective Students.” Search specifically for information about what is required for admissions as “International Students.” Also check any FAQ links on those sites for more details to make sure you and that institution are a real match. Make sure to keep a list of the universities with information on application deadlines, since applications are due at different times—some as early as December the year before you travel. Compiling this list compiling should takes some time as you will probably find many universities that offer your field of study (there are over 5,700 institutions of higher learning in the U.S.).

Fourth, narrow down your list. After you have noted deadlines, you should check to see which schools offer financial aid to international students. Keep in mind that the institutions want very high test scores. If you don’t have those results and think you can get them, test again to improve your scores. Waddah adds: “I met the universities’ requirements. The next step I did, I explored each of these universities' websites to see whether they offered financial support or not. So, I narrowed down my research into those universities that offered databases graduate program as well as a financial support.”

Fifth, when you have narrowed your list to five to ten schools, start to “meet” the admissions office and ask any questions that you are unsure about. You can do this via email and sometimes online chat. Make sure that your messages are well-written, clear, and concise. You’re not going to impress an admissions officer if you can’t write a coherent e-mail with good grammar and syntax. Remember: you’re competing for financial aid awarded to top students and you need to demonstrate that you are a top student in your communications as well as your academic record.

Six, review the responses to your queries go and once you have made sure that you meet the requirements, put together a compelling profile and start applying. I usually recommend up to ten applications. Since that can be expensive, you definitely want at least four applications submitted and you want to make sure that you submit them on time.

When admissions information starts to come in, expect that you will get some rejections. Competition is high, but you may have choices too. Waddah had two offers of admission and “I contacted the grad admission administrator at each to get more details about what I could get out of the graduate financial support to make sure that it would cover my tuition and my life expenses. Then, I contacted a supervisor that I thought I was interested in having. . . I asked him tons of questions regarding the program I would be working on to make sure that I would get what I was interested in. Both the graduate admission administrator and my supervisor were very kind and helpful. . . In addition, the supervisor encouraged me to select him as my supervisor because he was also interested in supervising me after he took a look at my CV. . . I had followed the steps required to get the admission at the U of C [University of Calgary] and, Alhamdulillah, I got it, with financial support as a Teaching Assistant.”

These may sound like many steps. They are, but they can be done by anyone. Along the way you might want to some help or advice. There are online forums and social networking sites that allow students to engage in Q&A with other students and experts. For more personal assistance with the process, there are also educational advising centers and private individuals who can help. Most consultations cost money, but remember that this is an investment in your future. Check out all options and see what works best for you because the good news is you can get university financial aid, if you have the academic credentials and extracurricular activities that universities are looking for. As Waddah concludes about researching institutions and then submitting applications, “Be confident and trust yourself that you deserve whatever you are applying for.”

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