About the financial aid from CMU

[oludom]

I've received an offer from the Department of Mathematical Sciences of Carnegie Mellon. I notice that the "note on the office of international education"

(which they mailed to me several days ago) wrote that "The tuition and stipend we give is close to enough to cover all expenses BUT not quite enough,

last year there was a $424.00 difference." Does this mean I have to pay the difference myself?

What's more, I find from the "Internatilnal Student Information Form 2010" that the 12 month minimum expenses for academic year 2010-2011 is $18588,

which exceeds my TA stipend($18000). And the Form says "the minimum amount of funding you provide must equal or exceed the expenses ($18588)".

Does this mean I have to provide funds other than the TA stipend (such as personal funds) in order to get my I-20 Form?

[Grad Hopeful]

I've received an offer from the Department of Mathematical Sciences of Carnegie Mellon. I notice that the "note on the office of international education"

(which they mailed to me several days ago) wrote that "The tuition and stipend we give is close to enough to cover all expenses BUT not quite enough,

last year there was a $424.00 difference." Does this mean I have to pay the difference myself?

What's more, I find from the "Internatilnal Student Information Form 2010" that the 12 month minimum expenses for academic year 2010-2011 is $18588,

which exceeds my TA stipend($18000). And the Form says "the minimum amount of funding you provide must equal or exceed the expenses ($18588)".

Does this mean I have to provide funds other than the TA stipend (such as personal funds) in order to get my I-20 Form?

From my experience working in an international admissions office where we issued I-20s (this is personal experience and may not pertain to you, you should contact the office that handles I-20s at your university):

You will need to prove that you can cover the full amount, including the amount that is past the stipend. The school has to indicate on the I-20 how much funding the student has and where from and can not issue the form until the estimated cost is covered. Often times student's would get scholarships and still have to cover the remaining portion. I would contact your university's office and submit the proper paperwork as quickly as possible since I-20 preparation can get backlogged as student's panic and submit late paperwork. The sooner you have everything submitted the better, or else you could run into delays. This especially true if you have to submit the paperwork multiple times due to submitting it in the wrong format.

The school may be able to refer you to additional options if you need help coming up with the money. These options may include 3rd party loans.