Funding your foreign education

Updated on: Monday, June 02, 2014

Only the very rich in India will be able to finance their children’s overseas education in full. Higher education in the universities in countries such as the U.S. and the U.K. is so high-priced that those in the middle or even in the higher income brackets in India cannot meet the expenses by themselves. They will have to seek support from scholarship providers.

There are certain institutions in India which offer scholarships to students for their study abroad. But the amounts given are usually inadequate to meet the heavy expenses. Many universities have schemes for providing scholarships to international students. Right at the time of applying for admission, you may indicate to the professor or other admitting authority that you may need financial support for undertaking the study.

Of course, students will be able go for part-time jobs subject to the norms of their university. There will be restrictions in terms of the number of hours of part-time work. In many cases, graduate students may be given teaching assignments in the undergraduate classes. Even after getting fellowships or scholarships, you may have to go for bank loans.

Sources

The following are some of the sources for scholarships giving support to students for higher studies. You can get detailed information from the websites, and later get in touch with the organisations for help and assistance.

education/overview

Fulbright - www.iie.org/fulbright

International Financial Aid - www.iefa.org

Bill Gates - www.scholarships.com/

Sallie Mae (Loans) - www.salliemae.com

Commonwealth Scholarship & Marshall - www.acu.ac.uk

Chevening - www.chevening.com (U.K. scholarship)

Edupass - www.edupass.org/finaid

www.internationalscholarships.com

www.internationalStudentLoan.com

www.fundingusstudy.org

www.internationalstudent.com/

scholarships

scholarship-positions.com

www.nuffic.nl/international-students/scholarships - Dutch scholarships

www.educationuk.org – U.K. scholarships

www.usastudyguide.com/Financial_aid.htm – U.S. scholarships

www.schoolsincanada.com/University-Scholarships-For-International-Students.cfm - Canadian scholarships

www.moe.gov.sg/education/scholarships - Singapore scholarships

www.sport-scholarships.com - Sports scholarships

French Government Scholarships (six sites) -

www.cnous.fr

www.fnege.imaginet.fr

European Union Scholarships - eacea.ec.europa.eu/

Gates Cambridge Scholarship - www.gatesscholar.org (Higher studies in Cambridge)

External scholarships arranged by the Department of Higher Education, Government of India, in China, South Korea, Israel, Japan, Czech Republic, Slovakia, New Zealand, Commonwealth countries, Belgium, Italy, Mexico, Norway, and Turkey - www.education.nic.inYou should remember that investment in appropriate higher education is perhaps the best form of investment. The fine qualifications you acquire can hardly be evaluated in terms of dollars or rupees. The rate of return or yield from investment in tertiary education may not be worked out as in a commercial endeavour, since the enhancement of your personality, social status, prestige, culture, thought processes and quality of life brought about through educational refinement cannot be quantified in terms of money.
Where do you start?

You should have a clear picture of how you should proceed to secure admission in a foreign university. The entire process has to be taken up with the seriousness it deserves. You have to be prompt and punctual in responding to the professors or other admitting authorities overseas. Many of us have a casual approach to the need of doing things on time. Giving some excuse for not doing something in time may result in your rejection.

You should invariably meet all deadlines with promptitude. You will find that professors in the U.S. and many other countries respond to you through e-mail promptly. You should not give room to an excuse such as “I am sorry, I had not opened my mailbox for a week; otherwise I would have answered your query earlier.” Even one response of this kind may be interpreted as lack of your interest in the admission.

You may be trying to secure admission not in one university, but half-a-dozen of them simultaneously. You should maintain separate

Funding your foreign education

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