As a college student, money is constantly on the brain. You're either:
spending it,
wishing you had it,
trying to work for it,
or
hoping to God you'll have some once you graduate.
Study abroad adds about twenty million and a half layers of complexity to the money situation. In fact very few students will have to deal with the financial issues that accompany a semester abroad. According to the Institute of International Education about 14% of students pursuing an bachelor degree will have some type of a study abroad experience. I also read in an article published in USA today that only 10% of students with high financial need believe that study abroad is a possibility for them. (Granted, "high financial need" is a pretty vague term.) The article also touches on minority representation abroad--http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/23/boost-minority-students-study-abroad/3171991/. Students who pay fully for their own education are also a minority--only 18% in this article in the Huffington Post: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8094282347262380594#editor/target=post;postID=8177955882679302039.
Fun fact: If you're an out of state student at Kansas State University and enroll in an exchange program you'll be charged in-state tuition!
After some research online I've found several very helpful sites:
http://www.diversityabroad.com/ This is just chalk-full of experiences abroad--from internships, to summer trips, to graduate school. This website also shares many helpful tips for finding scholarships and budgeting for your time abroad.
http://www.sit.edu/studyabroad/scholarships.htm If you use this site and go through their programs, you could have the possibility of getting your Pell grant matched for your study abroad experience. There are also other scholarships available through SIT.
**Before the trip**
As a minority student in many ways (from a town of less than 200, financially needy, supporting myself, and married) I knew study abroad would be a challenge to say the least. (However, I also firmly believe NOTHING is out of reach if you are willing to work hard enough for it.) So you're probably thinking, "okay, get off your soapbox and tell me how you're paying for it!"
1) Financial aid: Loans and pell grants.
If you have financial need, these ARE options for you. If you file your own taxes and your parents no longer list you as a dependent you are eligible for a large amount of student loans, the amount may change if you list your parents on your FAFSA. Many people say they can't afford college because they don't want to take out loans. Most federal loans have fairly low interest rates. I also want to pose the logical question: work for $7.50/hr the rest of your life or have $25,000 in loans and make $40,000+ a year so you can pay off your loans and still live comfortably? I also want to point out that study abroad is the opportunity of a lifetime. There will (probably) NEVER be another point in my life when I can spend 5 months in Europe for a cheaper price.
2) Scholarships
My husband and I have worked extremely hard to EARN the scholarships we've received. This work started in high school, and has been continued on through college. Speaking personally about a third of the scholarships I'm receiving are study abroad are scholarships I was awarded as a senior in high school. I apologize in advance for being brutally honest, but don't cry, "I can't afford study abroad," or say "poor people can't afford college." That is a flat out lie. It is more difficult for the poor, but with hard work in the classroom and extra time spent on extra curricular activities it can be accomplished. I know this because I spent my last semester of high school working 10-20 hours a week, participating in track and field, performing in forensics, AND maintaining a 4.0. It CAN be done.
3) Employment
This is self explanatory--work as many hours as you can and budget your money as well as you can. Beat the bushes for jobs. I know some students who put ads on Craigslist for cleaning houses to get a few extra hours of work on the side.
4) Planning
The semester before your study abroad accept as much financial aid as you can. If you get end up with more money than you need you can always immediately pay it back, if not you have an extra store of money you can use for your study abroad.
5) Considering banking options
Three words: Foreign Transaction Fees
Depending on your bank these can be up to 5% and after a whole semester abroad, 5% can get to be a pretty big number. Do your research on which cards offer the best rates. For example, we plan to use a credit card (several companies allow 0% APR for the first year and 0% foreign transaction fees) for purchases that we can use a card on, and a debit card so we can withdraw cash from an ATM. Another thing to keep in mind is a different type of card is used in Europe, so your credit card may not work in some places.
The best thing we did was ask for advice and humble ourselves enough to take it. Before this year I had never traveled farther East than Kansas City, Missouri, so it would have been ridiculous of me to go into this blindly. Once we exhausted our resources at K-State, we started beating bushes on the Internet and have learned a lot.
**After your trip**
In all the hype of our trip it's almost impossible to imagine coming home! In fact about every half hour we're mentioning our trip--can you tell I'm excited?? However, the thought of being homeless has crossed my mind a few times. We've had to plan our trip and save enough so we will be able to have a place to live once we return to the states. Financial aid isn't released until 10 days before school starts, and if we want to get a good apartment for a decent price we're going to need to put down a down payment and pay first month's rent well before financial aid is released. We also need to consider travel cost from the airport, food, and how much it will cost us to move.
In closing, I hope I haven't scared any of you off from my blog, and I promise dollar signs aren't constantly flashing through my eyes! To reiterate the title of this post, money is a tool, and we need to use tools to our best advantage while keeping our morals.
Also, I'd like to ask if you're reading this and have any advice, questions, or informative websites for my fellow study abroad students or myself to PLEASE leave a comment for us! I would love to hear (or read I guess) everyone's thoughts/opinions.
Thanks for reading if you've made it this far! :)
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