Financial aid (especially for international applicant)?

[creamypencil]

Hi there,

Do any of you receive financial aid before? Usually how much do the school subsidize you?

As I am a international applicant, the situation will be quite different!! I applied Calarts and SVA MFA in photography program. Calarts requires aplicants to fill out the Financial Aid PROFILE. Do any international applicant here receive any financial aid before?

What kind of scholarship can we apply? I am quite lost and worried. =(

Thanks!!

[Seeking]

Financial Aid packages for international applicants are different in each school, depending upon the school's resources, the particular program and the nationality of the applicant. There are some external sources that fund graduate study in different disciplines. There are some scholarships for women, minority candidates and for special disciplines. You can search all this information on Google.

In general, Master's programs have much less funding than the PhDs and if a school wants you to fill out the financial statement form, it generally mean that funding is limited and you'll have to find a sponsor or take out loan for Graduate study. This is true even of some very prestigious schools and especially for arts disciplines.

The financial aid package varies in every school and program. In some programs, admission offer comes with a guaranteed offer of funding, regardless of nationality of the candidate. In many schools, funding is not guaranteed, but the program manages to fund most of its admitted candidates regardless of nationality. Still other programs offer partial funding and ask you to fill out a financial statement form along with the application form, so that you can assure them that you'll be able to find the remaining amount required for your Graduate Study.

Usually, most schools have a special financial aid information page for international applicants, where you can find information about whether any financial aid is available and the possible sources of external funding are also listed there. Most schools also encourage the applicants to write to its financial aid office with questions related to funding.

Perhaps you can explore all this information on the School website and on Google. A good idea would be to search for photography and media related fellowships for Graduate Study on Google.

[creamypencil]

Thanks for you detail information. You are very helpful, seeking.

I see. I know it is going to be very hard for me to find sponsorship!! Since studying photography in the states is my dream, I will try my best!!

Do you have any idea which website most American students use for finding sponsorship? Like any forum?

Thanks

[Seeking]

Cramypencil,

Thanks.

I have applied only to funded PhDs, so haven't gone to any such forums. But Google should help you.