If you are an international student (or will be), you may be faced with some challenges in identifying funding sources available for studying in the US. But each year, approximately half of SIPA’s students are international, and each of them has found their own way to meet the costs associated with furthering their education overseas.
As you are probably aware, SIPA offers a number of scholarships for first year students, and scholarships and assistantships for students in their second year of study. All of these awards are available to international students. All applicants for admission are automatically considered for funding during their first year, and all interested students should apply for second year funding during the application period (typically early in the spring semester). Some international students borrow students loans from private lenders while studying here (loans from the US Government are not available to international students). For more information and a list of lenders that international students at Columbia University have had success with, click here. Please note lenders require international students to have a US citizen or permanent resident as a co-signer.
We certainly recommend that students thoroughly investigate all forms of assistance from government or private sources in their own countries. Many international students at SIPA have been supported by their governments, employers or other agencies while studying here. There are also resources available from entities in the United States and elsewhere that may be helpful, and we have compiled a list of websites that contain information that may be of use to international students seeking funding:
http://www.foreignborn.com/study_in_us/8-paying4school.htm
http://www.intlstudent.org/scholarships.html
http://scholarships.berkeley.edu/main_content/schol_details/pdf/int_student_opportunities.pdf
http://www.edupass.org/finaid/
http://www.fundingusstudy.org/StateSearch.asp
SIPA’s Financial Aid Office also has a database of external funding opportunities; although it is not specifically for international students (and admittedly has some dead links that we will soon be in the process of cleaning up as SIPA transitions to a new website), we encourage you to visit that site as well. Click here for details.
