Desperate Guide

Edwin Fu is a college student who received a full tuition scholarship. He has written to CollegeTalk about a website called Desperate Guide: Undergraduate College Financial Aid, Scholarship. This website lists all the US colleges and universities that give financial aid and merit scholarships to international students. It has detailed descriptions of each college as well as their admissions numbers, college statistics, financial aid awards, deadlines, etc.

Top 25 US Colleges that award Financial Aid to International Students

Top 15 US Colleges that award Merit Scholarships to International Students

The website also lists government and university scholarships for international students - UK, Australia, Singapore, China, Japan, Canada, Denmark, South Korea, New Zealand, and Norway.

Top Financial Aid, Scholarships Around the World for International Students

Many thanks to Edwin Foo for bringing this website to our attention!

Financial aid follow-up

Hello, all readers! I'm Fiona Foo, NUSHS graduate '08. This fall I will be attending Harvey Mudd College in California, on HMC's International Student Scholarship.

Q. Why did you choose Harvey Mudd?
A. I'm interested in both teaching and research, and Harvey Mudd's generous bond-free scholarship allows me to explore my interests over four years of university. It wouldn't be fair to myself or the sponsoring agency if I committed myself to a scholarship without knowing if it's right for me.

Q. Harvey Mudd is a need-aware school. How difficult is it to get FA from a need-aware school?
A. It's not impossible! Your chances depends on how much the school wants you versus the amount of funds they have. However, since the US economy is tanking, schools are becoming strapped for cash and hence competition for available funds is becoming stiffer. For example, Middlebury, a well-known LAC, recently reverted to need-aware admissions for internationals. So, if you're set on applying FA, you need to have a good alternative (e.g. Singapore unis) and be prepared to end up at that alternative.

Q. OK. I've decided I wanna apply financial aid. Which colleges should I choose?
A. Comparing the different types of US universities, publics usually don't provide FA for internationals--their goal is to educate residents of their state. Private universities and LACs are more generous, but each college is different.

UK and Aus universities do not give much financial aid since tuition revenue from international students are major sources of income. For Oxbridge, I have only heard that Trinity College in Cambridge sponsors a limited number of students. For Australian National, the ANU alumni association (not the ANU itself) sponsors scholarships for a few students.

Q. I thought FA is to help the needy pay for college. But I have an atas friend who managed to get his tuition and room+board all paid for. Huh?
A. There are two types of financial aid, need-based and merit-based.