What Students Get Wrong About Study Abroad Financial Aid

No one likes to learn after the fact, that they left money on the table. Paying for study abroad is no different. We know many students are unsure of where to start or if they will even qualify for financial aid—but don’t count yourself out yet. There are real people behind the process who want to help you figure out all of your options.

From virtual financial aid appointments to crafting our 10-minute application, our Scholarships & Aid Team is passionate about making sure you have all you need to make an informed decision—with no surprises. So, we’re passing the mic to the experts: Susan Thomas, the Director of Financial Aid, and Elizabeth Ercolino, the Financial Aid Advisor & Operations Specialist. They unpack common misconceptions about financial aid and share their practical advice for students who are concerned about cost being a barrier to study abroad. 

Elizabeth Ercolino (EE): We really try to make sure that studying abroad is attainable for everybody. And we understand that there's other financial circumstances, but we would definitely start with where the student is at. 
 

Susan Thomas (ST): I would give the student two concrete pieces of advice. I think the first suggestion would be to set up an advising appointment with their home university study abroad office for details specifically on how their federal, state, and institutional aid can be applied to study abroad. That's where we always want to recommend that students start, because our financial aid program [High Impact Aid Commitment] is meant to complement the existing financial aid policies at [schools we partner with].  

Then, part two of that is where we can come in and answer more questions related to our programs and your eligibility once we get answers to questions like, “what is your FAFSA Student Aid Index?” If a student can give us that information and we know their school, we can tell them exactly how much aid they can expect to receive once they submit our financial aid application.

ST: Yes, I think that there [are]. Our financial aid program is structured around the FAFSA Student Aid Index metric, and that applies to the majority of our U.S. students. But we've also tried to ensure that, again, our program is holistic in the sense of, even if you haven't filed a FAFSA, we do still want you to apply for aid. We want to understand what your financial circumstances are so that you can be considered.  

So, for example, international students who are attending school in the United States; if they're receiving need-based aid from their U.S. institutions, they should absolutely apply for IES Abroad financial aid, because we do award scholarships to those students as well, even if they haven't filed a FAFSA. So that's one specific group I would say initially think they don't qualify, but do.  

Bringing it full circle here, this is not a sweepstakes scholarship process, meaning that it's not a situation where a student is going to apply for aid, and maybe in six–to-eight weeks they hear back if they received, one out of five scholarships that were awarded to students. If you know your Student Aid Index and you're attending one of our Consortium schools, then we will tell you within five business days exactly how much aid you're going to receive. There's no guesswork in that.  

And again, the important piece here is, we want to make budgeting easier for students at the beginning of the predeparture process rather than a student feeling as though they're getting closer and closer to departure date and they're still not sure about this aid that they applied for two months ago.  

 
EE: I think the thing that students are surprised about is that [our financial aid award] is guaranteed; that there isn't another action item they had to do. [Also] some students will just think that they're already not eligible for aid because they're not a Pell Grant recipient. We have different funding levels for aid. [It’s] not just Pell Grant recipients that are eligible, but other students as well. So, we encourage all to apply, especially those Pell Grant recipients.  

We allow students to submit their financial aid application even before they submit their actual program application. Just because we want them to know what they're eligible for up front so that they have no questions. Also, we have our cost sheets listed on our program pages on our website, so the student knows what they could potentially be charged for. We understand that financials are a big part of that decision.