Monday, November 15, 2010

International Student Loans


As the number of international students studying in the USA continues to increase, the need for international financial aid is constantly growing. To address this need, we provide access to loans for non-US Citizens from anywhere in the world who are planning to study at approved schools throughout the USA.

We have been a leader in providing loans for international students since 1998, and thousands of international students have applied for loans through our programs. Over the past two years, the  credit  crunch   and legislation has changed the student loan landscape dramatically, and the options available to international students have been reduced. However, there are still loans available for international students, and International Student Loan makes sure to bring the best available loans on the market to international students. Click on the Apply Now button to start your application.
Typically students can borrow up to their school's total cost of attendance, as determined by the school, minus any other aid received. Total cost of attendance includes room and board and other living expenses. International students are required to have a US Citizen or permanent resident as a co-signer to apply for this loan. International student loans typically also offer:
  • No collateral required
  • Flexible repayment terms
  • Online application
  • and much more.....

Study Abroad Loans


In 2009, the number of American students who studied abroad increased by 8.5% to a new high of 262,416, continuing the trend or rapid increase in study abroad, with four times as many U.S. students participating in study abroad in 2007/08 than in 1987/88. Europe is still the number one destination for US students abroad, with the UK leading the way, and Spain, Italy and France following shortly behind. However, there is growing interest in China, India and other rapidly-developing countries.

For students looking to study abroad for a semester, or two, we offer Study Abroad Loans. These loans are available to US Citizens and permanent residents who are planning to study abroad through a school sanctioned study abroad program at either the undergraduate or graduate level, while still attending an approved school within the USA.
You should always apply for as much in federal loans as possible before you resort to private loans. However, for our Study Abroad Loan there is no need to complete a FAFSA, other benefits of the Study Abroad Loan include:
  • Borrower up to the total cost of attendance, less other aid
  • Flexible repayment terms
  • Thousands of approved schools

Foreign Enrolled Loans

For US Students who are planning to enroll directly in a foreign school, your funding options are a lot more limited than for those studying in the USA. Exchange rates continue to eat away at the value of a dollar, making it even more expensive to study overseas. However, International Student Loan provides you with a complete funding source to cover your education costs in a foreign country.

The most economical way to fund your education when you are enrolled in a foreign school is to borrow all you can on  Federal Stafford Loans, so make sure you complete your FAFSA and get your federal funding. But typically you will need a lot more than is available through the Stafford program, so you can also borrow any remaining funds that you need through our Foreign Enrolled Private Loan. Because it is school certified, you will not borrow more than you need.
Foreign Enrolled Private Loans offer:
  • Funding limits up to the total cost of education, as determined by your school, minus any other aid received. Total cost of education includes tuition, room and board, and living expenses.
  • Fast online application and approval
  • No application fee and no out-of-pocket costs
  • Hundreds of approved foreign schools, including medical, dental, business and law schools

Federal Stafford Loans


Stafford loans are fixed-rate loans for undergraduate and graduate students attending college at least half time. Provided under a federal government program, Stafford loans provide an excellent educational funding resource for US citizens and permanent residents. Because the program is controlled by the US federal government, interest rates can be very competitive - as low as 5.6% currently for undergraduates. Stafford loans can be subsidized or unsubsidized, based on the student's financial need. For subsidized Stafford loans, the government pays the interest on the loan while the student is in school. Subsidized Stafford loans have lower maximum limits than unsubsidized Stafford loans.

International students in the US are not eligible for Stafford loans, but US students studying abroad or directly enrolled in an approved foreign school should apply for as much Stafford loan funding as possible and apply for a private loan to meet any remaining need. We partner with StaffordLoan.com to provide you access to Stafford and other federally-guaranteed loans.

To apply for a Stafford Loan, you first must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or Renewal FAFSA. After the FAFSA is processed, your school will review the results and you will receive an "Award Letter" informing you about your loan eligibility. You may then apply for the Federal Stafford loan. If you have not already submitted your FAFSA, you can complete the FAFSA online at FafsaOnline.com.

Canadian Student Loan Program


Almost 30,000 Canadian students were studying in US colleges and universities in the 2008/2009 school year. For Canadian students studying or planning to study in the USA, we offer the Canadian Student Loan, good at thousands of schools around the United States. Students applying for the Canadian Student Loan will require a US citizen or permanent resident co-signer.

Formerly, we offered the CanHelp loan, which was available with a Canadian co-signer; however, as of the spring of 2008, the CanHelp loan has been discontinued and is no longer available. Instead of the CanHelp, Canadian students can now apply for a Canadian Student Loan for study in the USA.
Canadian students can apply to borrow up to the total cost of attendence for their school, less other aid received. Canadian students are required to have a US Citizen or permanent resident as a co-signer to apply for this loan.

These loans also offer:
·         Flexible repayment terms
·         Loans are accepted at thousands of approved schools
·         Competitive interest rates
·         No application fees

Economy Tough on International Students


The online newspaper for Cal State Long Beach, explores how the poor economy impacts international students, amid drastic cuts in California public education, a weak job market and rising tuition costs. Cal State Long Beach attracts students from around the world. Here is an excerpt from the article:
“The down economy, cuts to the university’s budget and fee increases have affected students on many levels. Job-seeking international students have not been immune.
Last summer, the state reduced the 2009-2010 California State University budget by $571 million. Cal State Long Beach’s share of the cut was $44 million. Faculty and staff
furloughs were implemented, about 1,000 classes were cancelled, and tuition jumped by 30 percent from the 2008-2009 price. Nonresident student fees also increased.
“When you have an economic situation where money is really tight, you’re going to see a reduction in opportunities for everyone,” Inemesit Williams, study abroad adviser for the
Center for International Education (CIE), said. “On top of that, when at the same time you have in increase in fees, students are going to scramble to find ways to cover these new
costs.”
Last fall, there were 1,236 international students on campus. That is about 3.5 percent of the nearly 35,000-student population. They come from more than 40 countries from Australia, to Brazil and Zambia, with more than half from East or Southeast Asia. International students have either an F-1 student visa or a J-1 Exchange Visitor visa.  Under U.S. law, these visas allow them to work on campus, or off campus in a field related to their studies for a set time during school and after graduation.
Those who aspire to work for several years need a company to sponsor their application for an H-1B Temporary Worker visa. As the U.S. Department of Labor defines it: “The H-1B
program allows an employer to temporarily employ a foreign worker in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant basis in a specialty occupation or as a fashion model of distinguished merit and ability.”
The spike in unemployment over the past year and a half in Southern California has  increased the stakes for international students who want to land a long-term job. The
seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Los Angeles County was 12.4 percent in March, up from 7.9 percent in August 2008.
The Career Development Center (CDC) on campus has hosted workshops targeting international students. These include seminars on finding an internship and writing an American-style résumé. CDC Counselor Wayne Tokunaga stressed the importance of doing all one can to be marketable.
“If your experience is the exact same as a U.S. citizen’s, they don’t have to sponsor a U.S. citizen for H1B,” Tokunaga said. “They’ll just go with a U.S. citizen because it’s
easier.”

Study Abroad Loans


As the world continues to shrink, students are increasingly aware of the need to gain an international education. From about 206,000 last year, the number of US students studying abroad is projected to grow to 1 million by 2017.
But its not easy to finance an international education - for US students who plan to study abroad, travel costs and exchange rates increase the normal burden of tuition, fees and living expenses. To help, Study Abroad Loans can provide you with a study abroad loan for short term, semester abroad loans and a foreign enrolled loan for students who are fully enrolled in a school abroad.
For International Students studying in the USA, we also provide an international student loan program for you to help fund your education in the US.
Each of our low-hassle study abroad loan programs offer competitive interest rates, no application fees and fast and easy loan application and processing. To learn more about your options please see below:

International Student Financing in 2010


As we did last year, we would like to provide a quick update as we start 2010 for international students looking to finance an education in the US. We begin 2010 in a much more settled position that we did 2009, with loans available, but still with constraints to education financing as a fallout from the worldwide economic turmoil over the past two years.
Although many lenders have gone out of business or canceled their international student loans, and private loans in general have been cut back dramatically, International Student Loan has loans available to international students in the US. These loan programs require a co-signer with excellent credit, and require “school certification.”
There are no longer any direct-to-consumer, non-school certified private student loans available to anyone. These DTC loans – ones that did not need to be certified by your school, and therefore could process very quickly and let you borrow more than the total amount that your school permits – were very popular with international and US students. But because of perceived and actual abuse, DTC student loans are gone and may not come back any time soon.
For international students, the basics of sound education financing become even more important. Those basics haven’t changed:
1. Be very realistic about your budgeting and financial needs, and choosing a college that is within your budget. Visit these two posts to see more on being realistic about your choice of college and setting an accurate school budget.
2. Consider a community college for the first two years of your education. Visit this post to learn how international students save money at community colleges.
3. Get as much in scholarships as you can. Start with your school, your government, and look online on sites like International Education Financial Aid.
4. If you need loans, check with International Student Loan and your school about the availability of a loan program for you.
Best of luck as we begin 2010. From an international education financing perspective, things are much better than last year, but we still have a long way to go to make an international education affordable to anyone with the initiative to pursue one!

International Students in USA, US Students Abroad, both at all-time high


International Students in the USA
The number of international students studying at colleges and universities in the USA (2008/2009 schoolyear) increased by 8% to 671,616, and the number of US students abroad (2007/2008 school year) increased by 8.5% to 262,416. Both the inbound and outbound totals, released by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in its annual Open Doors Report on November 16, 2009, are all-time highs. The report stresses that any impact from the global economic downturn may not be reflected in these numbers, as the commitment to study overseas was made prior to last fall for most of these students.
For international students in the USA, Canada overtook Japan for fourth place but otherwise the top five sending countries remain the same:
India 103,260 +9.2%
China 98,235 +21.1%
South Korea 75,065 +8.6%
Canada 29,697 +2.2%
Japan 29,264 -13.9%

India and China continue their dramatic growth, as enrollment by Chinese students in the US increased 21.1%, while Indian student enrollment grew by 9.2%.
The University of Southern California remained the top single destination for international students, with 7,482 international students.
US Students Abroad
Although Western European destinations continue to be most popular for US students abroad, with England, Italy, Spain and France taking the top four spots, China, India and several other countries continue to grow in popularity. Shorter-term programs are very popular, and there are 23 US colleges that send 80% or more of their students abroad. IIE releases tons of information and statistics, so feel free to follow the links below to learn all you want about the enrollment of US students abroad.

International Policy Conference on Student Loans


This one and a half day Conference will turn the spotlight on the latest developments and prospects of Student Loans. Philippe Maystadt, President of the European Investment Bank, will open the Conference.
Objectives
The conference will aim to bring the topic of student loans to the forefront of the policy arena in the EU, and initiate the discussion in other countries (e.g. Mediterranean Partner Countries, Balkans, etc.). The conference will examine and discuss the alternative student loan initiatives that are currently in place in EU member countries and in other parts of the world, and will foster opportunities for discussion and dialogue among administrations and/or banks thinking about introducing a student loan scheme. In particular the conference will aim to:
  • synthesize experiences on student loan programmes and disseminate this knowledge among participants;
  • identify innovative and successful initiatives and practices;
  • facilitate the exchange of lessons and experiences among institutions and countries; and
  • identify programme options and the conditions under which they are successfully implemented. In addition, the conference will brainstorm on how additional funding mechanisms, such as student loans, can complement the existing Erasmus grant scheme to enhance the mobility of students across Europe.
Target Audience
The conference is targeted at Tertiary Education senior policymakers, financial institutions and the wider education concerned with funding of Tertiary Education in general, and student loans in particular. Participants will include:
  • Representatives from the European Commission;
  • Representatives from Student Loan Agencies;
  • Official Representatives from Ministries of Higher Education and Finance and other Agencies;
  • Representatives from European financial intermediaries;
  • Representatives from Student Institutions;
  • Representatives from OECD, World Bank, UNESCO;
  • Researchers from Tertiary Education Institutions.
The Conference will have five sessions:
  • Student loans as a key piece of a Higher Education Financing Model;
  • Practical experiences: lessons learned from case studies in the EU;
  • Roundtable on critical success factors for Student Loans - guests from Student Loan Agencies, Ministries of Higher Education and Banks.
  • Advancing student mobility through new financing solutions;
  • Roundtable to brainstorm possibilities for collaboration at an EU level to facilitate access to loan facilities for students wishing undertake part of their studies in another country, inter alia, the viability of a pan-European scheme to enhance mobility at EU-level.

Online Scholarships – How to get them?


Previously, only the privileged few knew about available scholarships through which students could access quality education. However, with the advent of e-business solutions, internet entrepreneurs have created an ingenious method of providing students with information of available scholarships. Now they are many websites that offer services that allow students to search for free online scholarships, make applications, learn about the due dates and requirements and about the organizations offering them.

Main Function of Online Scholarship Sites

Internet based scholarship websites provide a vital mean of accessing available scholarships for students. These websites are easily accessible and only require applicants to submit basic information about them to facilitate the processing. This personal information is used to narrow down the search and locate scholarships that are most relevant to your area of interest. One must remember that many of these scholarships are view as investments by their providers who anticipate some future contribution from their beneficiaries in the future. Students can then view and compare similar scholarships and determine which one is best for them based on their requirements. Some of the information requested by scholarship hunter websites includes GPA, major, ethnicity, religious affiliation, social work contributions and extracurricular activities.

Features of Online Scholarship Websites

Online scholarship hunting websites are capable of using the information supplied by you to seek out the best scholarships that suite your interest. This enables students to save time when searching for scholarships and allows them to concentrate on those they will most likely succeed in getting or those that are associated with their particular area of study. This list is drawn for their data bank of government, private organizations and universities that offer scholarships to students. Students also have direct links to online application forms that are directly linked to the managers of these scholarships. Students can print copies of their applications for follow up purposes. These website also highlight the specific requirements and routs taken to achieve success in applying for these scholarships.


Applicants can also create accounts where they will submit information such as the magnitude of their financial need, academic achievements and intended major. They can then access their account to see if there are any new scholarship opportunities available.

Online Scholarship Precaution

One sad fact on the online business arena is that not all businesses are legitimate. The field of scholarship hunting is one of those that have been plagued with hoax and non-existing companies that fleece money from unsuspecting students. These hoax web sites pressure students to pay various sums of money before they can access so-called preferred scholarships only to give them the same list available from free websites. Students can verify the legitimacy of a scholarship website by checking their status with the Federal Trade Commission. This commission tries to help students avoid the scholarship scam sites that prey on students.

Scholarship Tips

  • When filling out scholarship application forms, ensure that all sections are fully completed before submission.
  • Most sites require a written essay, so make sure that your submission is of the best quality.
  • Ensure that you application is legible and has good English to show your proficiency level.
  • Make a copy of all documents submitted including the application form.

How to apply for an international student loan


One question that is always asked when I open the International Student Mailbag each day is “How can I apply for an international student loan?” or “How do I go about getting funding for my time abroad?”. So, I thought I would dedicate a blog post to give a brief overview of who is eligible for an international student loan and how you can apply for one.
The International Student Loan is available to any international student who wants to study at one of the approved schools in the USA or Canada. The approved schools list is also available online so you can check to see if your school is part of the program.
To apply for the loan program, you will need to have a cosigner to complete the application. Your cosigner must either be a US Citizen or permanent resident for at least the last 2 years. Once you have that you can apply for the program and the best way to do is either online (where you can walk through the application step by step) or you can phone our customer support team who will go through the application over the phone.
If you have all the information with you when you apply, and your cosigner has a good credit history you can receive your funds in as little as 5 business days – and even get a preliminary approval in 15 minutes.
Of course, there are many students who do not have a cosigner, and unfortunately without a cosigner the loan program is not available to you. However, there are many other resources and means to obtain funding – for example there are many international scholarships around that providing funding for students all over the world, plus you should get out the international financial aid blog which has updated listing of financial aid information.

Student Loans for International Students


Student Loans for International Students

International students often experience higher levies than local students. For instance, international students have to pay their own transportation costs and accommodations are not covered either. They have to pay for a rental apartment while attending school. Students who come from countries which experience… unstable currency rates will have to obtain loans to access school in the United States. However, it is not easy for foreign students to obtain loans. As much as there are fewer options in loans, there are institutions that are ready to lend international students educational loans….

Requirements to Attend USA colleges

It is a requirement that international students take tests before attending any school in the United States.
Commonly known as TOEFL, students have no option but to pass the TOEFL exams to show that they can speak the English language fluently.  This has to be passed in order to be accepted into any United States educational Institution. Sometimes a high score in TOEFL is required to enter higher education institutions, like universities and colleges. In addition, students who would love to study in the United States must sit for the SAT or ACT exams to illustrate a fundamental knowledge of reasoning skills, mathematics and English. Even though United States citizens and foreign students must take the same exams, they are often more challenging for foreign students than for United States citizens. International students often experience a shock in the cultural differences and speaking language abilities.
In order to perform well on these tests, foreign students may have to study longer in order to be on the same plain.  They also often need to seek guidance from qualified tutors. However, students who perform well in the initial test may attract sponsorships and sometimes even loans.