Prices differ from school to school, but public colleges and universities usually cost less than private ones. A big state university in the western United States will serve as our example. The University of Colorado at Boulder has one thousand two hundred international students from more than eighty countries.
Tina Tan is the director of international student and scholar services. She says international students are paying a total of forty thousand two hundred dollars for this academic year. The university estimates that the cost for next year will increase by four hundred dollars.
The university does not offer financial aid to international students. This is
generally true of American schools, especially at the undergraduate level.
Federal and state financial aid can only go to American citizens.
The University of Colorado does, however, offer some help for international
students. For example, it guarantees them the same tuition rate for all four
years of undergraduate study. And it offers four scholarships for international
students with special skills or talents.
Tina Tan says the federal government requires international students to show on
their applications how they will pay for their first year of school. This
evidence is a signed statement from whoever is paying for it, and confirmation
from a bank or lawyer.
Some colleges might require international students to show that they can pay
for all four years. But the University of Colorado requires only evidence of
financial support for the first year.
Educational advisers say foreign students should keep enough money in a local
bank to pay for at least two months of spending. Students have to consider not
just tuition but also housing, meals, books and other costs including social
activities.
Immigration rules restrict employment for international students in the United
States. So what kinds of jobs are they permitted to have? That will be our
subject next time.
