myUface Blog

An often-overlooked source of financial aid is ethnic communities in the United States.  Quite often, immigrants to the U.S. from particular countries create scholarships for students from their native countries.   Sometimes these scholarships are created by an entire community, and are awarded through open competitions; and sometimes they are created by individuals, to benefit specific groups in their home country.  Here’s two quick  examples:

• The Lithuanian Foundation offers scholarships to students from Lithuania for study in the U.S.
• The Armenian Scholarship Foundation offers support to Armenian students already studying in the U.S.

There is an interesting list of so-called “ethnic” scholarships here.  Keep in mind, however, that it is almost certainly an incomplete list, and it also includes information about scholarships for study outside the U.S.

It can be difficult to find information about these kind of scholarships, as many of the organizations that offer them do not have a large presence on the web.  One strategy is to search for online versions of newspapers published by / for immigrant communities in the U.S., or for national organizations representing those communities. You may also try asking around in your own community for people who know of links to immigrant communities in the U.S.  Remember, a lot of these kinds of opportunities are not well-publicized, and you may need to do a lot of research in order to find what’s out there.

Not every country will have a link to an immigrant community in the U.S., and not every immigrant community will offer support to international students.  But it’s certainly worth your time to find out!

Posts in this Series

1. Your Education is an Investment - 08 Jul
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 (This post)
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

In the past three days we’ve gone over three different ways for you to look for financial aid in your own country.  I’m sure many of you are thinking, Sure, that sounds good, but when are we going to get to the REAL information about scholarships from the U.S.?

Many international students seem to think that getting financial aid from the United States should be easy.  After all, U.S. universities are some of the wealthiest in the world, as are U.S. foundations.  Surely there’s a better chance of getting funding from the U.S. than from your own country.  Right?

Wrong.  Remember – between 66% and 80% of all funding for international students comes from outside of the U.S.   Much of that is from the students themselves, or from their family; but a growing percentage is from “local” sources of giving, such as governments, businesses, foundations and individuals.

In other words, if you don’t consider these sources of aid, you’re going to be missing out on a huge pool of potential resources.

There’s another reason to consider aid from local sources:  generally speaking, the competition for such resources is not as intense as the competition for the relatively small amount of U.S. support that exists.  Think about it:  students from all over the world will compete for scholarships or fellowships for international students, whereas students only from a particular country (and maybe only from a particular region or even city) may compete for more “local” scholarships.

The hard part about getting “local” support is finding it.  Such opportunities aren’t always well publicized.  But if you are able to locate opportunities in your home country, you’ll have a much better chance of securing that aid than you will of securing aid from hyper-competitive scholarship programs in the U.S. (although you can, and should, try to secure assistance from both).

The Wikipedia entry on “scholarships” sums it up nicely:

It is typical for persons to find scholarships in their home region. Information on these can be found by asking local persons and organizations. Typically, these are less competitive as the eligible population is smaller.

So, by all means, look for scholarships in the U.S.  But don’t neglect potential aid from your own country!

Posts in this Series

1. Your Education is an Investment - 08 Jul
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 (This post)
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