If you live outside the United States and want to send your child to a US college, you should know the type of free money opportunities you can use to pay for tuition.
It’s no secret that college in the United States has become expensive. US public colleges and universities offer a cost of attendance to international students ranging from $35,000 to $75,000 per year including housing. For US private colleges and universities, that price range jumps from $50,000 to $85,000.
First, you should consider using need-based financial aid in paying for your child's college. This option is rare, but an important consideration. Several American colleges offer this free money in the form of grants. These schools include world-class institutions like Cornell University, Pomona College, and Stanford University.
Need-based financial aid is grant money made available to families with a demonstrated need for assistance with their children’s educational costs. As long as school policy allows for it, this type of subsidy can be offered by the university directly.
Many US colleges and universities also offer academic merit scholarships to non-US citizens. In fact, more US colleges offer merit-based scholarships to international students compared to need-based financial aid. Merit scholarships can range from a partial scholarship worth $5,000 per year up to a full scholarship that also covers the cost of housing. Some schools have specific academic scholarships that they only offer to international students, while other colleges simply award academic scholarships regardless of a student’s citizenship or home country.
Many international families are unaware that they can reduce the cost of education by sending their child to an American community college for the first two years. Community colleges offer international student tuition rates of $5,000 to $10,000 per year, plus room and board.
