Budget tips

It is important early in the orientation process to think about your budget that you have available for your studies. The budget is an important factor in your search for universities and scholarships.

Financial planning

It is advised to do some good financial planning as early as the orientation stage. Making such planning is a process: you research the general costs of studying and your daily living in the US, supplement the planning with data that varies by university, and keep this alongside the three different financial sources (your own contribution, financial aid from universities, and external sources). If you do this for multiple universities, you will be best prepared and will be able to make a realistic estimate of costs.

Step 1: Identify costs

List the various expenses you will face, such as tuition, room rent and meals, but also, for example, insurance, trips, clothing and travel costs. You can collect the expense items and average amounts in an Excel sheet. You may not yet know the actual costs of your studies, but this already gives you a rough idea of the costs you need to consider.

Step 2: Calculate your own contribution

Once you have listed all the costs, you start looking at what own contributions you can make, such as looking at your own savings account or discussing with family about what they may be able to contribute something. Full scholarships are scarce and the vast majority of students pay a co-payment for their studies. In addition to your own savings, it is often possible to use a (partial) student loan from DUO for your studies in the US. Find out from DUO what you can borrow. Once you have mapped out your financial possibilities, you can better assess which universities are financially within reach and at which universities it is important to apply for additional scholarships.

Step 3: Identify costs and scholarship opportunities

Do you have some interesting universities in mind? On the university website, you can find an overview of the costs for tuition, room, meals, insurance, activities, and health care. You can enter these amounts for each university in your financial overview, creating a financial overview for each university.

You should also see if the universities on your list offer scholarships or financial aid. If they do, it is a good idea to find out approximately how much they offer and what the conditions and deadlines are. You can find information on the websites of the universities or contact the financial aid department. Keep in mind that if a university states on its website that it has financial aid, this does not mean that you will automatically receive the full amount; it is therefore a good idea to work out a best-case and worst-case scenario for each university in your financial overview, calculating what the least and most is that you would pay for that school, depending on if you receive scholarships or not.

For example: you are interested in College A, and you know the cost of attending College A will range from $25,000 to $28,000. The difference is in whether or not you will live on campus. You have figured out that available financial aid can range from $5,000 to $20,000. Your best-case scenario is lowest cost, plus highest financial aid, yielding a $5,000 self-contribution. Your worst-case scenario is highest cost but lowest financial aid, which means you contribute $23,000 in tuition costs yourself. A $5,000 gap is a lot easier to close than $23,000, for example by working a little more in the period leading up to your studies or borrowing money from your parents. You can chart this scenario for any university.

Tips

There are a number of factors that can affect costs. Do you want to save costs during your studies? Then you can consider the following factors.

  • Tuition fees vary widely among universities. State universities often charge lower tuition fees and are therefore often cheaper than private universities. Through the College Affordability and Transparency Center, a US government database, you can easily find colleges by cost.
  • During your college search, keep an open mind regarding location. Universities in the south or mid-west of the country are often cheaper because the cost of living there is lower than in major cities on the east and west coasts.
  • If there are multiple deadlines for applications to universities, apply before the earliest deadline. Applying early is always better because more scholarship money will be available.
  • Make sure your academic profile is a good match for university admission requirements. The stronger your academic profile is relative to the admission requirements, the better your chances of getting a good scholarship. Sometimes it pays to apply to a number of universities where you are a very strong candidate academically.
  • Ask alumni or current students about how and where you can buy relatively inexpensive study materials, where to buy groceries cheaply, and which nearby places or attractions offer student discounts.

Working on campus

With a student visa, you are not allowed to work off campus. However, it is often possible to work (on a limited basis) on campus, for example in the library, international office, or catering. Sometimes you can also work as a Resident Assistant (RA) as a senior student.

Ask your university what the possibilities are and what conditions are attached to your visa.