Some additional information on Study Abroad-based financial aid can be found at the following sites:
Although many people believe that study abroad is an expensive endeavor, the reality is that a semester abroad can actually cost less than a semester at ISU. In 2007, a semester at ISU is estimated at about $8,700 for the average student.
This includes tuition/fees, room & board, insurance, books, and personal expenses. A semester abroad can be as little as $6,295 or as much as $16,594, depending on the program. This includes everything ISU estimates in its budget plus tuition at the host institution, airfare, passport, International Student ID Card, and various other costs. There are several programs whose total estimate is less than the estimate for a semester at ISU. If you can afford ISU, most likely you can afford a semester abroad.
When our office creates a Study Abroad budget, we try to take every expense into account. This means that the overall cost of a program is not what you will be paying our office; it is the estimated amount that you should need for your time abroad, including all costs that you will incur independently of ISU, such as passport, airfare, and personal expenses. Our budgets are also itemized so that you know how much you are paying and how much each item costs. The sample budget above explains costs you are likely to see. Since all of the programs are different, some programs will have costs that are unique. If you ever have any questions about a budget, please feel free to contact our office. While we do our best to determine a precise program cost, the budget is only an estimate. Some items may result in a higher or lower cost at the time of your program due to variables such as exchange rates. To view budgets for all study abroad programs, visit the Program Budgets page.
Even though you are not physically present at ISU, you are still receiving credit from ISU, and you are registered for ISU courses. Paying ISU tuition ensures that you receive all the benefits of being a student here, such as your GPA being affected by your courses abroad, financial aid, insurance, and ISU services. The amount of tuition is reduced because you are on a Study Abroad program, and is equivalent to 2 hours of ISU tuition.
There are some Study Abroad programs that are exchange programs. This means that there is an agreement between ISU and the Study Abroad school to send a certain number of students each semester to each other tuition-free. This makes these programs very inexpensive, but also very popular. Unfortunately, we can only send a number of students to an exchange school equal to the number of students coming to ISU from that same school.
This means that we cannot always send every student who applies to an exchange program tuition-free. Luckily, most exchange schools have agreed to allow tuition-paying students in addition to exchange students. In this case, if you are not accepted to an exchange program due to limited available placement, you may still go on the program, but you will have to pay tuition. Please see the notes on each of the exchange program’s descriptions for more information.
If you are eligible for financial aid, some types, such as loans and Pell Grants, will apply directly to your Study Abroad costs. Other types of financial aid, like MAP grants or other tuition-based aid, may only apply to the small amount of ISU tuition that you must pay. Scholarships vary, and may cover many different costs depending on the type of scholarship.
For more information on how your scholarship applies to your program, consult the institution who is hosting the scholarship. For more information on how financial aid may be applied towards Study Abroad, visit the Financial Aid Office, or their Web site at: www.financialaid.ilstu.edu
The first stop in a search for financial assistance should be the Financial Aid Office at your home university. The ISU Financial Aid Office is located on the second floor of Fell Hall, just below OISP.
© 2008 Illinois State University • An equal opportunity/affirmative action university encouraging diversity.• Privacy Statement • Office of International Studies and Programs • Campus Box 6120 • (309) 438-5276 • Mail comments to:
