Jun 21, 2001 02:33 PM
4524 Views
Education abroad costs a bomb, something like Rs. 10 lakhs minimum per year extending upto 30 lakhs per year for MBA programs. Financial Aid is every student's dream. In many of the graduate programs and MBA programs you will find students with an average age of 27 or more. Unlike as in India where by the age of 21 students graduate.
The main reason for this being the college education is not at all affordable and many think twice before planning to do a graduation. In India, graduation is the minimum qualification that every Tom Dick and Harry seem to posses as the government has made it pretty affordable.
To finance your education you can avail the following:
1. Scholarships and Grants:these are merit based and not need based. Infact most of the financial Aids are merit based. No matter how desperately you need the money doesn't matter at all. If you are a person with exceptional intelligence, High GPA- Grade Point Average (something like 4 points), good academic record throughout, good in sports and other areas of personality, you stand to get a scholarship and grants from the University itself. IITians (Nerds from Indian Institute of Technology) get it without having to try hard. Universities feel privileged to have an IITian enrolled with them. Believe me, its true. And After knowing a couple of IITians all I can say is, they are worth it!
- Teaching Assistantships : You get some stipend if you get the TA. You will be required to teach the juniors or correct their papers and so on. At times Tuition Waiver is also provided with TA. You need to check with your dept. head/Prof. for such openings.
3. Research Assistantships:You need to contact the professors and HODs, tell them your area of interest and find out if you can get an RA in topics of your interest. In this you will have to assist the profs/ others who are doing a research on any thing. You will get a stipend and/or tuition waiver.
4. Tuition Waivers:In this some portion of your tuition fees are waived off or you may also get a complete tuition waiver. But you need to pay other fees as required by the University, like for Library fees, etc.
5. Community Aids:Each community has a provision for the students belonging to the same. Check if your community has any such Aids and apply for the same.
6. Loans:This is the best way to finance your education especially if you are doing an MBA. Getting loan is very easy once you get admissions. The rate of interest is also very low for students and many loan programs do not require a collateral from students i.e. you don't need to start paying till your education is completed.
Lastly, When considering applying to Univs. Check on ALL the possible ways to get an Aid from there. And send you application for Fin. Aid much before the deadline.
One important thing to remember -When you apply to Universities, start planning your education taking in mind that YOU are financing it wholly. And it will be much easier to deal with when you don't get any Aid.
