Universities, states, private foundations, and large companies abroad willingly provide financial support for international students. You may ask why? It is simple. The task is to educate within the university, and then attract talented people from all over the world to work in their country.
For this purpose, educational institutions and other organizations are ready to allocate generous funding for various categories of students. Financial support usually takes the form of grants, scholarships and benefits, which we will talk about. The authors of the expert articles for Cheappaperwriting blog will tell you about ways to study abroad for free.
Grants
An international grant is a form of incentive for young students (usually under 30) that can cover tuition costs down to the last cent – from the course itself to flight and in-country living. There are also partial grants that cover only tuition. Other costs for transportation, airfare, and room and board are left to the student.
You cannot get a grant for nothing. It can be won. To do this you must:
- Contact the university you are interested in and find out if it currently offers grants. If so, you stand a good chance of receiving financial support from the institution. The institution will require you to fill out some paperwork. The main thing is to write a good letter of motivation that explains why the university should award free years of study to you. Not sure how to write a superb motivational letter? Find the tips here.
- Apply through the embassy of your dream country. Government grants are administered in most countries by ministries of education and culture. The procedure for applying for a grant is similar to a university grant – documents and an explanation of why you should apply.
- Participate in a partnership and student exchange program between Russian and foreign universities. This option is relevant if you are already a student at a Russian higher education institution and dream to move abroad.
- Apply to a private foundation interested in developing and supporting the field of science or art in which you are planning to study. It is easy to find such foundations on the internet. Their sites are also available on the requirements for applicants for grants.
Scholarships
Scholarship programs are quite flexible in nature. Virtually everyone can find a scholarship that is appropriate for them. Similar to grants, scholarships can be full or partial, covering respectively all of the student’s expenses or only some of them.
To get a scholarship you must apply to the desired university or embassy. The choice of scholarship options is great, and you can get them:
- Students who have performed well academically in their first months at the university. In this case, the university or the state reimburses the money spent by the student and pays the rest of the expenses within the framework of its program, after which the study will continue on a free basis.
- Unlike grants, which are designed primarily for applicants in their 20s and 30s, even schoolchildren can receive scholarships. If the school where the child studies is a partner of some university, it can offer the student free tuition after graduation. Such “gifts” can also be obtained for diligent study and a high score in all school disciplines.
- Scholarships for students with limited financial means are available for the category of people who show excellent academic performance, but cannot afford to pay their tuition.
Other options for scholarship programs are available in different countries and universities. There are scholarships by gender – for example, only for women; by nationality, religion, age, and state of health. There are also family scholarship programs: the more members of one family study at one educational institution, the more expenses the scholarship program covers.
You will be required to write a scholarship essay in order to receive the scholarship. And to succeed, read expert articles like this one.
Fellowship program
The Fellowship is financial aid for applicants to master or doctoral programs abroad. To qualify for it, you must meet the age requirements, which may vary from institution to institution, and have sufficient research experience for the selected program, as evidenced by the conduct of scientific practice and the availability of scientific publications.
An application for this type of funding can be submitted through the university of interest, embassy, or private foundation that funds the program to attract specialists from abroad.
Knowledge of the official language of the country
Here is such a seemingly simple method to get a free place in a foreign university. This principle of student admission is supported even by the top European universities. For example, French Sorbonne offers free study places to foreign students, who passed the international language examination in French at least at the level of average.
The principle of budget tuition in the language of the country is also valid for Dutch, Czech, and many other universities. Note that English-language programs in these countries are paid for by foreigners. For those whose language level is not sufficient, there are preparatory courses. After taking them you can learn the language you need from scratch to the required result of the university.
But this point has a nuance – not all universities in the country are working on such terms, and only some individual universities. And the choice of preparatory course abroad is not an easy task, because, without exaggeration, there are several hundred of them.