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The Experts View - Finance
How do graduate students fund their period of study abroad? There are more sources than you might think and finance need not stand in the way of your plans to study.
The actual cost of studying internationally can be considerably lower than one might imagine
When I talk to potential postgraduate students around the world one of the major concerns they all have centres around financing their period of study abroad. Whether choosing the one or two year masters route, or the longer PhD or research qualification, tuition fees and living expenses can amount to a considerable amount of money.
But the actual cost of studying internationally can be considerably lower than one might imagine. With more and more students travelling overseas for their postgraduate education, universities, colleges, Governments and corporate organisations are all seeking ways in which they can help with the cost of education. Australia, Canada, Germany, Singapore, the UK and the USA all now offer national level scholarship programmes dedicated for international students wishing to study postgraduate programmes. In the case of the US and the UK awards, the schemes are well established and in 2006 boast larger budgets than ever before.
Another encouraging sign for postgraduate international students is the move by many Governments to allow them to stay behind after their period of study
Additionally, as part of Government campaigns around the world wanting to encourage more international students to come to their postgraduate programmes, previously draconian immigration and working laws have become much more flexible to allow international students to both study and work at the same time. This has an enormous impact on you as a postgraduate student as you are often in a much better position to fund your period of studies through part-time work. There are also private sources of funding. Local and international banks are now more willing to offer low interest loans to students wishing to pursue postgraduate programmes overseas.
Another encouraging sign for postgraduate international students is the move by many Governments to allow them to stay behind after their period of study. Whereas in previous years the opportunities to work after graduation were very limited, now many countries are offering graduate students the chance to utilise their recently acquired skills in their local labour market. The immediate benefit of this to students is twofold; firstly, exposure to overseas work experience can have a long lasting effect on your career and make you far more attractive to future employers; secondly, working after graduation for a period of one or two years can very quickly cover the costs of your postgraduate qualification. Viewed in this way, what seems like an impossible sum to secure before your postgraduate programme can seem manageable. Good luck!
