Sources of Funds for International Students in the US

Each year, the Institute of International Education publishes the Open Doors Report, packed full of information about international students in the US, US students abroad and trends in international education.

One of the tables I check out each year is the Primary Source of Funds table. This shows the primary source of education funding for international students in the US, and it really has not changed much over the past five years. The online table is great, and shows that most international students at US colleges and universities still must rely on their own funds to pay for their education -- like family funds, loans and savings.

But the printed report is even better, as it breaks the data down by academic level. IIE just released the full printed 2009 Open Doors Report, and the data shows that the overwhelming majority (81.9%) of international undergraduates in the US are self-funded, while less than half (48.8%) of international graduate students cite personal and family funds as their primary source of funding.

The next set of numbers shows how those graduate students are funding their education - with help from their school. 43.3% of international graduates receive their primary funding from their US College or University, while the number is only 9.1% for undergraduates.

Here's the full data table from the 2009 Open Doors Report showing the primary source of funds for international undergraduate and graduate students in the US:

Primary Source of Funds	% undergraduate	% graduate
Personal & Family	81.9	48.8
U.S. College or University	9.1	43.3
Home Government/University	3.9	3.1
U.S. Government	0.3	0.8
U.S. Private Sponsor	1.4	0.9
Foreign Private Sponsor	2.1	1
International Organization	0.1	0.3
Current Employment	0.2	1
Other Sources	1	0.8
Total	100	100

Graduate students are much more likely to receive financial assistance from their school, often in the form of assistantships, research grants, etc., whereas very few undergraduates receive any form of aid from their school. This information is quite helpful as you set expectations about how to pay for an international education. There are scholarships for undergraduates, but far fewer than the financing opportunities available to graduate students.

Click here to subscribe to our blog and get an update when the next post comes out.

International Student Financing in 2010

As we did last year, we would like to provide a quick update as we start 2010 for international students looking to finance an education in the US. We begin 2010 in a much more settled position that we did 2009, with loans available, but still with constraints to education financing as a fallout from the worldwide economic turmoil over the past two years.

Although many lenders have gone out of business or canceled their international student loans, and private loans in general have been cut back dramatically, International Student Loan has loans available to international students in the US. These loan programs require a co-signer with excellent credit, and require "school certification." Visit International Student Loan and click the Apply Now button to begin your online application.

There are no longer any direct-to-consumer, non-school certified private student loans available to anyone. These DTC loans - ones that did not need to be certified by your school, and therefore could process very quickly and let you borrow more than the total amount that your school permits - were very popular with international and US students. But because of perceived and actual abuse, DTC student loans are gone and may not come back any time soon.

For international students, the basics of sound education financing become even more important. Those basics haven't changed:

1. Be very realistic about your budgeting and financial needs, and choosing a college that is within your budget. Visit these two posts to see more on being realistic about your choice of college and setting an accurate school budget.

2. Consider a community college for the first two years of your education. Visit this post to learn how international students save money at community colleges.

3. Get as much in scholarships as you can. Start with your school, your government, and look online on sites like International Education Financial Aid.

4. If you need loans, check with International Student Loan and your school about the availability of a loan program for you.

Best of luck as we begin 2010. From an international education financing perspective, things are much better than last year, but we still have a long way to go to make an international education affordable to anyone with the initiative to pursue one!

Click here to subscribe to our blog and get an update when the next post comes out.

International Students in USA, US Students Abroad, both at all-time high

International Students in the USA

The number of international students studying at colleges and universities in the USA (2008/2009 schoolyear) increased by 8% to 671,616, and the number of US students abroad (2007/2008 school year) increased by 8.5% to 262,416. Both the inbound and outbound totals, released by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in its annual Open Doors Report on November 16, 2009, are all-time highs. The report stresses that any impact from the global economic downturn may not be reflected in these numbers, as the commitment to study overseas was made prior to last fall for most of these students.

For international students in the USA, Canada overtook Japan for fourth place but otherwise the top five sending countries remain the same:

India 103,260 +9.2%
China 98,235 +21.1%
South Korea 75,065 +8.6%
Canada 29,697 +2.2%
Japan 29,264 -13.9%

India and China continue their dramatic growth, as enrollment by Chinese students in the US increased 21.1%, while Indian student enrollment grew by 9.2%.

The University of Southern California remained the top single destination for international students, with 7,482 international students.

For more information and data regarding international student enrollment in the USA, see the Open Doors press release and the international student data tables.

US Students Abroad

Although Western European destinations continue to be most popular for US students abroad, with England, Italy, Spain and France taking the top four spots, China, India and several other countries continue to grow in popularity. Shorter-term programs are very popular, and there are 23 US colleges that send 80% or more of their students abroad. IIE releases tons of information and statistics, so feel free to follow the links below to learn all you want about the enrollment of US students abroad.

For more information and data regarding US students abroad, see the Open Doors Press Release and the study abroad data tables.

Click here to subscribe to our blog and get an update when the next post comes out.

4th Annual InternationalStudent.com Travel Video Contest - $3500 Grand Prize!

InternationalStudent.com is excited to announce the launch of the fourth annual InternationalStudent.com Travel Video Contest! Prizes are bigger than ever – the Grand Prize is $3,500 and there will be other great prizes, like an iPod Touch and a video camera. Not to mention worldwide fame and fortune in the international education community with your very own blog on InternationalStudent.com.

The contest is pretty simple. Simply make a video and submit it. Your video can be no longer than 5 minutes long; there is no minimum length. For those already studying outside of their home country, the video can describe any trip you’d like to take. For those who are not currently studying abroad, but who would like to, your video must describe your proposed study abroad. Click here for more information on how to enter.

Entries will be judged by the judges panel on creativity, video production and editing quality, originality and interest level in the proposed trip or study abroad, and pure subjectivity. on our part.

For more information and to enter, go to:
http://www.InternationalStudent.com/contest/

International Student Loans Now All School Certified

Over the past few years, there have been two main types of private loans, including those private loans available to international students. The first are called "school certified" (or school channel, in lender terms) and the second are called "direct to consumer" loans (DTC in lender terms).


Direct to Consumer Loans

With direct to consumer international student loans, the school is not really involved in the loan process at all. The student has to prove that he or she is enrolled in a school approved by the lender, typically by submitting a class schedule or letter of acceptance; however, the school itself does not need to do anything. The student can borrow the amount that the student decides is needed, up to a maximum set for that school by the lender, and the lender doesn't care or know what other funds the student may have available. The upside is that these loans are very flexible, very fast in processing, and typically paid directly to the student. The downside is that they are easier to abuse and get in trouble by borrowing too much, as there is no school involved in determining exactly how much the student needs to borrow to afford his or her education. Often direct to consumer loans have higher interest rates and fees than school channel loans as well - the difference can be minor or major.

School Certified Loans

In school certified or school channel loans, the financial aid office is involved in determining exactly how much a student can borrow. The school looks at all of the student's available funds, scholarships, other aid or loans, etc., and sets a maximum borrowing amount that could be far lower than the maximum total permitted for a school. For instance, as a very rough example, if a school had a total maximum annual cost of attendance of $30,000, then a student with no personal or family funds available and no other aid could borrow up to $30,000. However, if the school determined that the family should pay $5,000 per year and the student received a scholarship for $10,000 per year, then the student would only be approved to borrow $15,000 per year. For this reason, school channel loans are harder to abuse by borrowing too much, usually offer lower interest rates than DTC loans, but are less flexible and take longer. Funds are disbursed to the school, not the student.

DTC Loans No Longer Available

Over the past 18 months, as a result of the credit crunch and student loan legislation, most (if not all) direct to consumer private student loans have disappeared, and all direct to consumer international student loans have certainly disappeared. Only school channel international student loans are left, including on InternationalStudentLoan.com.

This means that it is even more important to work through your school, plan carefully, and only budget to borrow the smallest possible amount you need - as that is all the school will certify you for anyway. ANd start your process earlier, as it takes time to process a school channel loan. The lender and school each have to do their part in evaluating your eligibility for a loan and the amount you can take, and this extends the process.

Click here to learn about the international student loans available through InternationalStudentLoan.com.

Click here to subscribe to our blog and get an update when the next post comes out.

Update for International Student Loans

As the fall semester approaches, and the level of inquiries that we receive about international student loans peaks, its a good time to review the state of play in the market for international student loans. Much has changed in the past year.

The credit crunch and economic crisis continues to impact the availability of international student loans. There are many fewer lenders providing private loans to international students than there were a year ago. Underwriting and credit criteria have gotten tougher, and school lists have shrunk.

InternationalStudentLoan.com continues to try to direct students to the best lender under current, admittedly less than ideal, market conditions. To find a lender that may be appropriate for you, visit the InternationalStudentLoan.com Apply page, submit basic information about your school and educational level and the school picker will direct you to the most appropriate lender that we are aware of.

Remember, all regularly-available international student loans require a US co-signer.

There are a few business schools (for instance, the business schools at Harvard, Yale, University of Chicago, University of Virginia, Duke University, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, MIT, University of Michigan and University of California - Berkeley) that will provide no-cosigner loans to their own international MBA students. These prestigious business schools have the resources and ability to negotiate special arrangements with lenders for their international students, and students there should certainly take advantage of these programs.

For everyone else, make sure you talk directly with your international student office and financial aid office. People in those offices are in the best position to know if your school has any special financing arrangements in place for international students, and simply to provide guidance in general.

MBA Students Suffer as Custom Loan Programs Close

Reports continue about the problems caused by the lack of international student loans this year. Although international student loans have never been available to the general population of international students without a co-signer, a few prestigious schools had negotiated with Citibank and Sallie Mae for no-cosigner private student loan programs for their students in particular. We talked about the University of Chicago custom loan program in this blog last year.

A new article in CIO Today addresses the problems students at these schools face now that CitiAssist and Sallie Mae have terminated many of those school-sponsored custom programs. From the article:

"A number of leading business schools and graduate programs were dealt a serious blow this fall when big private lenders including CitiAssist and Sallie Mae suddenly terminated their popular "no co-signer" student loan programs. The canceled loan programs, which typically allowed applicants to obtain up to $150,000 without a co-signer to assume stewardship of the loan should the borrower default, were a financial lifeline for many international students, many of whom have no other way to finance their MBA educations. They were yet another victim of the credit crunch, which has decimated many private lenders and made those still in business more cautious than ever."

You can read the complete story on CIO Today.

Subscribe to our blog to get an update when the next post comes out.