Is it more difficult to get into engineering phd programs in the US for international students?

[zebratography]

I am an international student currently studying in the US, and I was wondering if it is harder for international students to get into top engineering PhD programs in the US... I have heard that it is generally the case due to funding reasons, but is it true?

[fuzzylogician]

Very generally speaking, yes, there may be fewer funding opportunities for international students compared to domestic students. For state schools, in certain states US citizens can become state residents even if they weren't when they applied and then qualify for a reduces tuition; international students never qualify, so they cost more. There are fellowships (basically all NSF fellowships other than the DDRIG, and some/many NIH grants/fellowships) that only citizens can apply for, and there is some fundings that PIs can only spend on US citizens but not international students. That all adds up to more opportunities for domestic students. Now, how much of an effect that will have on a particular student applying to a particular program in a particular school, that is hard to say. There is a greater chance of it being a factor when applying to public schools than private ones (where tuition is the same for everyone), but that's about all we can really say with any certainty. 

Funding aside, there are some other factors that make admissions harder for international students -- fewer opportunities to do research, grades that are harder to interpret, English being a second language, letters from lesser known referees, degrees from unknown schools. Not everything applies to everyone, but overall it can be harder. 

[GeorgeC07]

I think the most important factor is funding, as most fellowships only consider US citizens. Since the competition in top universities is more fierce, the programs at those universities usually require a higher score in the speaking section of TOEFL or IELTS tests for TA opportunities, leading to even less funding options for international students. For those who have studied in a country or region where English is the official language, this may be a less severe problem. As for other problems such as unfamiliarity of schools, grading systems and referees, international students don't usually have any good solutions. However, the admission committees in popular schools usually collect data on qualified universities in foreign countries, although they may only have enough information on the top few schools in a certain country. My advice would be to focus on universities that have a larger percentage of international students and those institutes that have cooperations with your undergraduate university, since in these cases the universities have a much higher chance of knowing what kind of applicant they are considering.

@jnfls0203As for your case, you don't have to worry much as long as you have completed a few years' courses in the US and have references from American professors. Your experiences should qualify you for funding opportunities other than some types of fellowships, since most programs only consider US citizens for fellowships.