How to Finance Your Studies Abroad

If it is your dream to see the world while you finish your college degree, money shouldn’t hold you back. Studies abroad can be as vital to your educational experience as the core classes you have to take and the advice that you get from your academic counselors, and there are many options for funding it.

If it is your dream to see the world while you finish your college degree, money shouldn’t hold you back. Studies abroad can be as vital to your educational experience as the core classes you have to take and the advice that you get from your academic counselors, and there are many options for funding it. Before you set sail on your new adventure, put your financial worries to rest with these five tips.

1. Use your resources. From getting a passport to securing your medical records, preparing for a study abroad trip can be confusing and overwhelming. One area that you shouldn’t try to tackle alone is paying for your time abroad. Many colleges and universities have people in the financial aid department that are well-versed in navigating the payment schedule and available options for financing study abroad experiences. Research your school’s study abroad programs to see if any of them offer this kind of help.

2. Create a budget taking into account all of your expenses, big and small. Studying abroad is a unique process to plan for financially. In addition to calculating your tuition, housing, and food costs, you’ll also need to keep in mind the costs of documents like plane tickets, passports and visas. Add to this list things like health and travel insurance and spending money for excursions, and it can be enough to make your head spin. You may catch a break if the cost of living in your future host country is lower than that of your current location, but it is always better to overestimate your expenses rather than underestimate them and find yourself in a tight spot.

3. Make sure your financial aid is valid. Nothing can be worse than getting excited about a quarter or semester abroad only to find out that you can’t use your current financial aid to contribute to its cost. In fact, post-secondary institutions are bound by law to make these funds available to you but only for federally-approved studies abroad. Make sure that your program qualifies so that you can use your financial aid, and find out what paperwork you need to fill out to apply it to your studies abroad..

4. Know that you don’t have to pay for it all on your own! In addition to using your own financial aid, research scholarships that are created specifically for students who plan to study abroad. Study abroad scholarships may be awarded on a wide rage of merits, including the subject area that you plan to study, your gender, your race or ethnicity, or your financial status. Your study abroad coordinator can help you get started, but remember to do a little Internet research on your own. If you plan to look for scholarships, remember that you may need apply as far as a year in advance of your studies for some of them.