Date:06/07/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/edu/2009/07/06/stories/2009070650510400.htm
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GUIDANCE PLUS

Funding your foreign education

B.S. WARRIER

Your dream of studying abroad is achieved, often, with some scholarship assistance. Some sources where you can look for financial support.

— Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

The way to success: The cost of education is an important consideration, and students will have to find open sources of funding in the form of scholarships grants, work-study or educational loans.

Only the very rich in India will be able to finance their children’s overseas education in full. Higher education in the universities in countries like the U.S. and U.K. is so high-priced that those in the middle or even in the higher income brackets in India cannot meet the expenses by themselves. They will have to seek support from scholarship providers.

There are certain institutions in India which offer scholarships to our students for their study abroad. But the amounts given are usually inadequate to meet the heavy expenses.

Many universities have schemes for providing scholarships to international students. Right at the time of applying for admission, you may indicate to the professor or other admitting authority that you may need financial support for undertaking the study.

Of course, students will be able go for part-time jobs subject to the norms of their university. There would be restrictions in terms of the number of hours of part-time work. In many cases, graduate students may be given teaching assignments in the undergraduate classes. Even after getting fellowships or scholarships, you may have to go for bank loans.

The following are some of the sources for scholarships giving support to students for higher studies. You can get detailed information from the web sites, and later get in touch with the organisations for help and assistance.

Ford Foundation - www.fordfound.org/fields/

education/overview

Fulbright - www.iie.org/fulbright

International Financial Aid - www.iefa.org

Bill Gates - http://www.scholarships.

com/

gates-millennium-

scholar.aspx

Sallie Mae (Loans) - www.salliemae.com

Commonwealth Scholarship & Marshall - www.acu.ac.uk

Chevening - www.chevening.com (UK scholarship)

Adobe - www.iiesf.org/new/

programs/

corporate.htm

Edupass - www.edupass.org/finaid

Rotary Foundation - www.rotary.org/

foundation/

education/amb_scho

www.international

scholarships.

com

www.international

StudentLoan.

com

www.fundingusstudy.

org

www.grantsnet.org

www.international

student.com/

scholarships

http://scholarship-

positions.

com

www.nuffic.nl/international-students/scholarships - Dutch scholarships

www.educationuk.org – UK Scholarships

www.usastudyguide.com/Financial_aid.htm -

US Scholarships

www.schoolsincanada.

com/University-

Scholarships-For-

International-

Students.cfm - Canadian Scholarships

www.australianscholarships.gov.au – Australian Scholarship

www.scholarshipnet.

info/undergraduate/

uk-international-

undergraduate

-scholarships - UK Undergraduate

www.moe.gov.sg/education/scholarships - Singapore Scholarships

www.sport-scholarships.com - Sports scholarships

French Government Scholarships (six sites) -

www.india-campusfrance.org

www.egide.asso.fr

www.cnous.fr

www.onisep.fr

www.cefi.org

www.fnege.imaginet.fr

European Union Scholarships -http://eacea.ec.europa.

eu/erasmus_mundus/

funding/scholarships_students_academics_en.php

Rhodes Scholarship - www.rhodesscholarships-india.com (Higher studies in Oxford)

Gates Cambridge Scholarship - www.gatesscholar.org (Higher studies in Cambridge)

External scholarships arranged by the Department of Higher Education, Government of India, in countries such as China, Korea, Israel, Japan, Czech, Slovak, New Zealand, Commonwealth countries, Belgium, Italy, Mexico, Norway, and Turkey - www.education.nic.in

You should remember that investment in appropriate higher education is perhaps the best form of investment. The fine qualifications you acquire can hardly be evaluated in terms of dollars or rupees. The rate of return or yield from investment in tertiary education may not be worked out as in a commercial endeavour, since the enhancement of your personality, social status, prestige, culture, thought processes and quality of life brought about through educational refinement cannot be quantified in terms of money.

Where do you start?

In the early part of this series, we had described the formalities of ‘Statement of Purpose’ and ‘Letters of Recommendation’. Later on we discussed the need of qualifications acquired through tests such as GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, and IELTS.

You should have a clear picture as to how you should proceed to secure admission in a foreign university. The entire process has to be taken up with the seriousness it deserves.

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