myUface Blog

To conclude our long series about financial aid, I wanted to take a step back from all the information about scholarships, tuition waivers, loans and so on and ask a very basic question:

What is a U.S. education worth?  What is its value?

And the reason I want to ask that is this:  many international students approach studying in the U.S. as something that would be “nice,” provided they can get financial aid.  “Sure,” they say, “I’d love to study in the U.S., but only if I can get a scholarship.”  These students are not placing a high value on U.S. education, since they are in effect saying that they would only study in the U.S. if it were free.

Well, for the vast majority of students, it’s not free.  Period. Like it or not, most of you will have to pay a significant portion of the bill for your studies.  Whether that portion is 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% will depend on your ability to sucessfully secure financial aid; but the chances of getting 100% of your education funded are pretty slim.

So, you need to ask yourself, how much are you willing to pay, to sacrifice, in order to get a U.S. education?

In answering this question, it’s useful to think of education as an investment in your future.  A better education will, generally speaking, get you a better job, with a higher salary, and more chances to make a large impact, which could lead to an even higher salary, etc.  In trying to quantify exactly how good an investment education is, some have suggested that the “return” on education is between 10 and 15%:

Private rates of return . . . range from 10 to 15 percent – levels that are competitive with returns on most alternative investments available to individuals.

Now, of course, like every investment, for this one to work you, the investor, have to make good decisions.  You have to research career paths, select a good university and program, and maintain the value of your investment through hard work and study.  But, assuming you do all these things, you can expect a healthy return on your educational investment.

Keep that in mind as you look for financial aid.  Remember, it’s great if you can find someone to help pay for your university study; but the person who has the most to benefit from your education is you, and so you should therefore consider investing your own money as well.

By combining your talents and funds with modest assistance from the different sources we’ve talked about, you can make your dream of studying in the U.S. a reality.

Posts in this Series

1. Your Education is an Investment (This post)
2. Researching Scholarship Opportunities - 07 Jul
3. How to Ask Questions About Financial Aid - 28 Jun
4. Ninth Option for Financial Aid: Loans - 27 Jun
5. The Difference Between Scholarships and Fellowships - 26 Jun
6. Eigth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Universities - 25 Jun
7. Seventh Option for Financial Aid: Ethnic Communities in the United States - 24 Jun
8. Sixth Option for Financial Aid: Private Organizations in the U.S. - 23 Jun
9. Fifth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Government Programs - 22 Jun
10. Fourth Option for Financial Aid: Scholarships from International Organizations - 20 Jun
11. How to Ask for Support - 18 Jun
12. Looking for Support in Your Country: Why it Makes Sense - 17 Jun
13. Third Option for Financial Aid: Individuals in Your Country - 16 Jun
14. Second Option for Financial Aid: Private Businesses or Foundations in Your Country - 15 Jun
15. First Option for Financial Aid: Government Programs in Your Country - 14 Jun
16. The Third Step in Financial Aid: Find What's Available - 11 Jun
17. The Second Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Assets - 10 Jun
18. The First Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Needs - 09 Jun
19. Finding Financial Aid for your U.S. Education - 08 Jun