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Study abroad with or with out a scholarship
How much your international postgraduate education costs varies on which country you choose to study in and at what institution. If you are aiming for one of the leading world names in education – MIT, Stanford, Oxford or Cambridge – then a taught masters programme will cost you anything from $35,000 and $55,000 a year plus living expenses. Studying in Australia, Canada or Germany may well work out considerably cheaper, but in reality none of the genuine options for international study are free. It is important to remember that you will also have to fund your cost of living and this factor may dictate where you actually study.
Many city-based universities, such as those in New York, London, Paris or Sydney, come with the additional price tag of some of the most expensive living expenses in the world. Studying away from the city cuts down costs and often shows you another side to a particular country’s culture. Some institutions offer attractive packages that include part-time teaching or research opportunities to offset all or a proportion of the tuition fees, but applications are often restricted to research students or those already familiar to the institution concerned.
All the planning in the world cannot guarantee financial aid from either a particular institution or a national or international agency. Sometimes the key to financing a period of overseas study is a simple combination of hard work and favourable immigration regulations.With the international movement of students increasing exponentially every year, those countries wishing to remain competitive in the recruitment of students are revising their views on allowing foreign nationals into the workplace. The US, Canada and many European countries all offer favourable immigration rules allowing some measure of work for genuine full-time international students.
Both the UK and Australian governments now promote the active participation of international students in the part-time job market, easing formerly draconian laws on who could work and for how long and encouraging larger numbers of students intending to work their way through university to consider their education systems. Both countries now allow students to work up to 20 hours a week in term time and a full working week in vacations. The Highly Skilled Migrants Programme in the UK is also an opportunity for many students to stay after their period of study is complete and repay any loans, at a much faster rate, that they may have taken out in the home country. Full details can be found at http://www.workpermits.gov.uk and http://www.immi.gov.au.
In recent years, a number of national and international banks have recognised the growing importance of international study and the potential of a new client market. A simple search on the internet will reveal an enormous number of commercial organisations offering schemes, often with deferred interest packages, for students interested in pursuing a masters or research degree overseas. The amount you can borrow varies from bank to bank, as do the application requirements and loan schemes, but international students are increasingly turning to this new opportunity as a means of funding some or all of their period of study. As with all loans though, read the small print!
‘the information age in which we currently live abounds with advisory services for international students wishing to secure financial aid or scholarships.’
If you think you have exhausted all of the options, there is also the opportunity for those attending one of the QS World MBA (www.topmba.com) or QS World Grad School Tour (www.topgraduate.com) events to apply for the QS Quacquarelli Symonds scholarship for responsible leadership, to help fund an MBA or masters programme anywhere in the world. Applicants must have attended one of the Fairs in person to be eligible for the scholarships and will be sent an email with scholarship details inviting them to complete an application on-line, between November 2004 and April 2005.
