How much does a 'full ride' actually cost an international student?

[liebkuchen]

In an ideal world, I'd love to do an MFA in fine art in North America or northern Europe. But this is just a matter of curiousity regarding the USA.

 

If an international student is very, very lucky and secures full funding- tuition, health insurance and a stipend, what other costs do you need to budget for? How much have you needed to pay out of your own pocket aside from travel to and from your home country? Were you aware of such costs before you accepted your place? If you have supplemented your funding, where did that money come from?

[fuzzylogician]

Well, there are all the usual costs that are associated with moving to a new place: deposits for an apartment, phone contract, etc., however much you want to spend on new/used furniture and appliances, initial grocery shopping, winter clothing if you move to a place that's much colder than where you're from, books and other school supplies, some possible school-related fees not covered by your tuition, monthly pass for public transportation (or: a car/bike?). You also need to get where you're going to live, so you need to pay for a plane ticket. 

 

These costs all depend on where you're coming from and where you're going to live. Prices vary widely. 

 

For me, I was aware of these costs in general, since it wasn't the first time I moved apartments, but it's hard to predict exact prices in a new city in a country you've never been to. At the end of the day, my stipend was sufficient to cover my expenses, but since the expenses all come at once and the stipend is paid on a monthly basis, there is always that time right after moving when things are a little tight. You might need to be more careful about what's actually immediately necessary and what can wait another few weeks for when things start to settle down.

[TakeruK]

Things might differ by field, but in my field, international student, despite costing the school more, end up with almost the same take-home pay as an American student, so there are not many extra costs other than start-up costs (deposits etc. as mentioned above). This usually results in the school taking on fewer international students rather than covering for fewer expenses. 

 

There are a few things that might cost more for an international student. For example, if you have a spouse who is unable to secure work authorization, then your family might have a lot more out of pocket expenses than an American student. Or, you might end up paying a little bit more in taxes because non-residents have fewer ways to claim tax credits than Americans. However, this might not even be true, depending on the tax treaty between the US and your home country and your source of funding. 

[music]

Tax is a big outgoing (14%). US citizens do not have tax withheld at source, so effectively they often keep their entire stipend, so I am told. I also had to wait for my stipend for longer than US students because the paperwork was lengthy and required a bunch of signatures which I couldn't get til orientation week, so bear in mind you might need to pay your way for the first few weeks of term.

 

The other significant one for me is flights home. My SO lives in my home country, so between us we are looking at around $5000/year on flights (ouch). He also plans to relocate, so that's two lots of international relocation expenses, which are *significant*. My relocation cost around $9000, including furnishing an apartment from scratch, buying a new phone outright because most non-US citizens can't get a contract phone due to not having a US credit history, stocking my kitchen, bike, climate-appropriate clothes, shipping my belongings etc. 

 

Aside from flights home, I just budgeted very tightly for rent/utilities, and consequently my day-to-day finances work out the same as any US student.

[TakeruK]

Tax is a big outgoing (14%). US citizens do not have tax withheld at source, so effectively they often keep their entire stipend, so I am told. I also had to wait for my stipend for longer than US students because the paperwork was lengthy and required a bunch of signatures which I couldn't get til orientation week, so bear in mind you might need to pay your way for the first few weeks of term.

 

Americans do have to pay taxes on their stipend too and if they don't opt to have it withheld at the source, they just have a giant tax bill every April (plus potential penalties if their tax owing is high enough that they were supposed to pay quarterly taxes and/or opt to withhold taxes at source). 

 

The difference I meant was non-residents can only claim the personal exemption (don't pay tax on the first $4000 or so of income) while Americans can claim both the personal exemption and the standard deduction (total of about $10000 or so of tax-free income). Also, married Americans can file taxes jointly and increase their tax exempt income while married non-residents must file as "married, filing separately", which does not allow us to combine our tax exemptions and thus means we will reach the higher brackets faster. But this is very complex since there are other issues (e.g. tax treaties) and other personal circumstances. For example, for last year I ended up paying $0 in taxes (received a refund on all withheld taxes) because the majority of my stipend was paid by the Canadian government, and the rest that came from American sources was small enough to avoid taxes according to a US-Canada tax treaty. 

 

Finally, music is right--I forgot about expenses like flights home (and/or trips to get a new visa if necessary)! But how much that costs really depends on each person's personal cirumstances!

[Catria]

Regarding withholding of taxes, what paperwork is involved in this?

[fuzzylogician]

Normally (read: as far as I know, but I suppose this could vary) taxes are withheld from your paycheck automatically, and you don't need to do anything. Your paystub will indicate exactly how much money was deducted. At the end of the year, you do your taxes and find out if you paid more or less than you had to, and adjust accordingly. There is software that your school should make available to you so you can do your federal taxes as an international student. There are also state taxes (and city taxes, in NYC) but they are usually a lot less than federal taxes, and they were also automatically deducted from my paycheck.  If at your university, taxes are not automatically withheld, I'd ask more advanced international students how this works and also ask someone in your department headquarters and/or the university's payroll department. It's possible that different schools have different arrangements or that this depends on the source of your funding.

 

If your country has a tax treaty with the US, it's possible to fill out a form to ask for an adjustment accordingly, so you don't get as much (or any, depending on the treaty) tax withheld. You get the form from HR or payroll or whoever is in charge of paychecks at your university. You don't have to fill this form out -- if you don't, taxes will get withheld as if there is no treaty, but then you claim the treaty exemption when you do your taxes, and you can have the money reimbursed. 

[TakeruK]

What fuzzy said! If you find that you have no taxes deducted from your paycheque and you would rather have some taxes deducted each pay period instead of owing several thousand dollars each April, you can talk to HR and ask for them to withhold taxes (there will be a form for you to fill out).

[xor]

Hi. Someone above mentioned 14%. Is this a standard rate for taxes on stipends? Thanks

[fuzzylogician]

See e.g. here for some basics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States#Marginal_tax_rates_for_2013

[xor]

Thanks mate

[mmzee]

I'm very confused about taxes and I really need to know how much I will actually get from stipend every month.

Let's say I get $26600 for 12 months, them it's aprox. $2216 every month minus 15% of taxes, which gives aprox. $1884.

So, I will take home $1884? Is that it?

Also, this amount of taxes is fixed for the whole US or it differs depending on the state?

Thank you!

[.letmeinplz//]

I'm very confused about taxes and I really need to know how much I will actually get from stipend every month.

Let's say I get $26600 for 12 months, them it's aprox. $2216 every month minus 15% of taxes, which gives aprox. $1884.

So, I will take home $1884? Is that it?

Also, this amount of taxes is fixed for the whole US or it differs depending on the state?

Thank you!

Some states don't have an income tax, other states take everything (not just money) from you (California). You have to look at your state and their tax laws as well as federal taxes.

[AuldReekie]

I'm very confused about taxes and I really need to know how much I will actually get from stipend every month.

Let's say I get $26600 for 12 months, them it's aprox. $2216 every month minus 15% of taxes, which gives aprox. $1884.

So, I will take home $1884? Is that it?

Also, this amount of taxes is fixed for the whole US or it differs depending on the state?

Thank you!

 

Be sure to see whether your package covers university fees. At some institutions all these small items can really add up.