Studying in the USA.

ianknight

Hi,

Can anyone assist. My stepson has been offered a place at a University in California, USA which includes some financial assistance from them in the form of scholarship awards.
It does however still leave over £10K to find and my question is whether anybody knows if he can get a student loan in the UK to cover stuying in USA.
Any advice would be most appreciated
Ian
:think:

The_One_Who

No, he can't get a student loan from the UK to cover his time abroad. Not unless he is doing an exchange year, but that doesn't seem like it applies.

There is little help for international students at most universities. You could ask their finance department to see if there are any other forms of help available such as part time work or something.

ianknight

Thanks for that. I have read somewhere in the forms sent to him that working would not be permitted on his student visa but I will look into that a bit more.
Cheers

The_One_Who

You might be able to get a work-study programme, but I don't know if they are available to those with scholarships. He might be able to work on-campus.

ianknight

Chers.

Just read through the literature in more detail and it does say that almost certainly he will not be able to work off campus, but i will contact them to see whaT OPPORTUNITIES THERE ARE FOR WORKING ON CAMPUS AS YOU SUGGEST.

bitsandpieces

Firstly - congrats to your son That's a nice place to study.

Is this for the coming academic year, or next year? Either way, worth making your and your son's financial situation clear to the University - see if they can offer any work etc. Also ask about any money elsewhere to apply for. If next year, and you have limited financial resources, it might also be worth applying to some of the Ivy League colleges if there are any which might be suitable for your son. These colleges can have more funds available to them - highly competitive, but if you don't apply you definitely don't get...

Is this £10k/year, or total? If it's total, working all the hours god's sent now and in holidays (if work can be found) could make a useful dent, if your son would consider doing this.

If this is financially not feasible, some UK universities allow students to spend one year of their course at University of California (paying just UK fees, and with UK funding). Again, though, this is v competitive, and only 1 year.

ianknight

Hi,
Thanks
Offer is for this acedmic year starting at the end of August, 2009. The total fees including all room and board etc is $45176.00 per year!!!! Although he has been awarded a scholarship of $30000 per year towards this but with a bit of spending money he will still need $20000 ish.
He is set to work full time from the end of his A levels until he goes and I am doing some additional work, so we should manage to find the money but just wanted to see if there was an easy way to spread the cost, but seems not.
Will definately contact the Uni to see what opportunities are there for part time work on campus, even if it just provides some extra spending cash.
Seems like the chance of a lifetime for him so will find a way to make it happen.

bitsandpieces

$20,000/year is a good bit more than £10k at current exchange rates, surely?

It's definitely worth crunching the figures - using fairly pessimistic assumptions - now, to make sure this is affordable. It sounds like a great opportunity but - to be brutal - if your son won't be able to fund the full span of the course, then looking for something in the UK might be a better option. Hope it works out

Two things your son could consider in future years (after the 1st year) does he have to stay in University accommodation? And does he have to pay for food in the University? He might be able to make some (not massive, but not insignificant) savings, if not...

dieselhead

Just worth pointing out as many people have mentioned work is that his Visa may not allow it, my brother did an exchange year in the US and there were very strict limitations which basically prevented him from working. Now whether working on campus would be different I'm unsure, but its a further thing to check.

Voyager2002

His visa would not allow off-campus work, and as an undergraduate he is unlikely to have much to offer to on-campus roles.

You do not say which university this is, and so this may not be such a great opportunity after all. While the USA does have a handful of outstanding universities, it has a vast number of mediocre institutions whose standards are a good deal below even the worst of universities in Britain. These places are essentially businesses selling a service, and their offer of a place simply means that they will accept you as a customer. The offer of a scholarship sounds good, but can often mean about as much as the "special discounts" that you get from a double-glazing salesman.

So: I suggest that you seek some independent evidence that this university is of outstanding quality. Otherwise, look again at universities in Britain, or elsewhere in Europe.

docij

Our daughter has just completed a degree at a university in the US. She also got some scholarship funding, which is the only way we could afford for her to go.

As you say, your step son can work on campus and, if it's a large uni, there'll be plenty of jobs to go round. Our daughter worked in the post office at her small uni - in fact there was an expectation that all students did some part time work. It is hard with all the studying they have to do but it also gives them some 'almost real life' experience at the same time. I think US universities rely on student labour much more than here.

There's a really helpful website for parents: http://www.fulbright.co.uk/