EducationUSA webchat on undergraduate financial aid - transcript

1. Undergraduate Financial Aid
Guest Speaker: Catrillia Young, SUNY Plattsburgh
Date: December 8, 2010 from 7am – 8am
Q. How many students did you support in 2010?
A. Young: Every student that was admitted was offered financial aid last year. That was approximately
130 students. We have 400 international students total at SUNY Plattsburgh.
Q. Are there any full scholarships for international students? If they are exceptional?
A. No, there are no full scholarships for international students or U.S. citizens.
Q. I'm from Ukraine. The director of local EducationUSA Advising Center told me that the chances of
getting a financial aid for Neuroscience major are very low. Is that true? Do you have any suggestions?
What majors do have higher chances of being fully supported?
A. Hi there, I don't know many schools with neuroscience at the undergraduate level. It might be harder
to get aid, however, I don't think it's impossible. I would contact the schools that offer that major to find
out more. There's not one particular major that has better funding, it's the institution's ability to offer
aid that matters most.
A Regarding the question from Ukraine, are a student's chances of getting undergraduate financial aid
subject to his or her planned major? I have not heard of this issue before, and I've been in advising for a
long time.
A. No, in general, students are offered financial aid based on academic merit, etc., however, there are
certain scholarships at various institutions that are based on the student's anticipated major. This is not
as common, though.
Q. I'm very sorry that I joined you 10 minutes ago and could you please tell me when will be the next
session if it will be at all. Thank you
A. We have another session at 4pm (EST) in Washington DC today
Q. Do you offer small loans to international students who do not have a US cosigner, and if so, how
much money are they usually offered? Thank you!
A. No, at SUNY Plattsburgh we don't have loans available to international students.
Q. Are the scholarships taxed?
A. No, students do not have to fill out special tax forms for the scholarships that they receive at my
school.
Q. How much do we pay? if we get the highest amount of scholarships?

2. A. This depends on the cost of tuition, your living expense, and how much aid the college awarded you.
Full funding is typically 90% of those costs - partial funding will of course be less.
Q. Hello, does Oberlin college offers full financial aid to international students?
A. Not sure about Oberlin - but you can check directly with their International Student Admissions Office
Q. 90% of tuition or overall cost?
A. overall cost
Q. What is the percentage of international students at SUNY Plattsburg receiving aid?
A. SUNY Plattsburgh provides financial aid to nearly all of our international students.
Q. can u answer questions regarding admissions?
A. sure - and please include your questions about financial aid as well
Q. What sports scholarships do you offer?
A. SUNY Plattsburgh is an NCAA Division III school. This means we are not allowed to offer financial aid
for sports. Colleges and universities that are NCAA Division I or II are allowed to offer sports
scholarships.
Q. how i will get full scholarship? is it possible?
A. It is possible to get a full scholarship which will pay over 90% of your total costs. You will need to
check with the school you want to apply for requirements, types of aid, and if they offer full scholarships
Q. What is the employment policy for int'l students?
A. Intl students are permitted to work up to 20 hours per week and typically earn about $2000 USD per
year. Optional Practical Training also allows full time students to receive practice internship training in
the field they are studying. Check with the schools you want to apply about these opportunities.
Q. I am applying for undergraduate course. I want funding both tuition and living expenses. Kindly let
me know is it possible for me to get funding for both ? If so how much? What is the deadline?
A. Yes, we do offer scholarships that help with tuition and on-campus living expenses. The average
award is $4,500 per academic year. We accept students until we have no space available for the
semester.
Q. is there any list of universities those provide need based aid to international students?
A. Check with your local EducationUSA advising center (wwww.educationusa.state.gov). They would be
able to tell you more about which schools typically offer aid.

3. Q. would you tell us, please, how effective it would be to receive financial aids, if international students
apply to US schools as a transfer students or freshman ones?
A. SUNY Plattsburgh offers financial aid to freshman and transfer students. In general, if a school offers
financial aid they will probably offer it to both freshman and transfer applicants.
Q. Is it possible to receive financial help from organizations in the U.S. or other countries?
A. Yes, both U.S. and Foreign organizations such as companies and foundations may offer aid. Check
with your local EducationUSA Adviser and the ''Finance Your Studies'' section on our website at
www.educationusa.state.gov
Q. What’s the difference between colleges that are need blind and colleges that are full need met?
A. Need blind aid means a student will be considered for financial aid even if they do not require
additional funding. Meeting a student's full need means that a school will consider how much a student
can afford to pay and then the institution will provide the rest of the money the student must pay to
afford to study at that institution.
Q. How important are SAT/ACT and TOEFL scores?
A. Whenever possible, I encourage students to take these kinds of exams. The SAT and ACT are often
used to determine who will receive academic merit awards. Many schools will consider international
students for admission even if they don't take these exams, but they may not consider these applicants
for certain kinds of scholarships.
Q. Is there any way to get a loan without a cosigner in the USA
A. You will typically need a US cosigner to borrow from a US lender. Asking a relative or family friend
who is a US citizen is common.
Q. If a college can’t meet full need, will it reject the student outright or will it ask the student to look for
other sources of funds?
A. It really depends on the institution. I think that would be a fair question to ask early in the application
process. That way the student can properly prepare.
Q. What do all universities require?(like TOEFL)
A. Merit Based Aid will look at your personal characteristics, special talents, athletic abilities, academic
achievements, leadership skills and so on. Need based will consider your family income and other
merits as well. Check with the school you want to apply for specific requirements and types of aid
offered.
Q. Hi, I am Parviz from Tajikistan, what kind of organizations provide fin. aid. to competitive
international students with highest academic records?

4. A. This will depend on the organization - some focus on certain majors or attributes of the student
applying.
Q. In case student is unable to afford the full cost of attendance even with the financial aid offered, do
you maybe have any advice where to look for outside sources for scholarships for international
students?
A. I would definitely advise going to the websites suggested on the Education USA website. There may
also be scholarships available in your home country that you could use to help with the cost of studying
in the US.
Q. If the tuition goes up, will the scholarship increase by the same amount?
A. No, at SUNY Plattsburgh we are unable to increase the scholarships we have awarded students if the
tuition goes up.
Q. what is the solution of student if not understand the English
A. Many US colleges and universities offer conditional enrollment, meaning you can study English at the
college and be enrolled after passing the course and English test
Q. what are the cheapest universities in USA
A. To lower costs, many students begin at a 2 year public community college and then transfer to
complete the last two years at a public or private 4 year college
Q. Are there any jobs available on campus for international students?
A. There are jobs available for international students on campus. The student can work in an office
setting, food service, or a variety of other positions. These jobs usually help with the cost of books and
small expenses.
Q. have you got masters degrees in business at SUNY Plattsburgh
A. We have a Master’s of Science in Leadership: http://www.plattsburgh.edu/academics/leadership/
Q. there is foundation courses in various uk universities. Do you have any such courses?
A. no, we do not have foundation courses like those in the UK. The US system is not designed for that:
students can enter American colleges and universities directly from
Q. What's the difference between funds and loans ?
A. I think you're asking the difference between financial aid funds and loans. Loans must be paid back
and there is usually interest charged for the loans you've received. Scholarships and grants offered from
the college or university do not need to be paid back.

5. Q. is education in USA offer opportunity to take the permanent residence in USA and be American
citizen if I get graduation certificate from any universities there??
A. The intent should be returning to your home country after your studies. You can remain in the US on
an internship or employment if offered a work visa.
Q. Some colleges say that they meet full need. Do they mean the need calculated by them or the need
demonstrated by students via ISFAA and CSS/profile?
A. They usually mean the need calculated based on a financial aid application, however, this can vary.
Q. Are we allowed to choose our jobs at university, or do we have to do what the university forces us
to?
A. You will have a choice among the jobs available to students - you will only need to be qualified and
hired for that job.
Q. are there additional financial aid opportunities after the first year in SUNY Plattsburgh basing on
academic success?
A. There are additional scholarships that a student can qualify for after the first year at SUNY
Plattsburgh, but there are not that many. This is because US citizens, permanent residents and
international students are competing for the same awards.
Q. Do you offer need based scholarships>
A. SUNY Plattsburgh does offer need-based scholarships from $500-$2,500 per academic year.
Q. If were are admitted on ED, can we drop out from that college and study elsewhere later?
A. Transferring between institutions in the US is common
Q. so can we believe that we should not expect for full aid
A. That is correct. If a school can offer full aid that's great! However, students should not expect this to
be common. Even if a student offers full aid for attendance, the student should consider things like
spending money, travel within the US, and other possible expenses.
Q. Does SUNY offer athletic scholarships, in particular women's volleyball and men's soccer?
A. There are some SUNY schools that do offer athletic scholarship for those sports, but SUNY Plattsburgh
does not.
Q. How do you calculate a student's GPA? Do consider all the classes on their transcripts, or only core
classes Math, English, Science, Social Science?
A. all courses taken for credit and have a letter grade count towards your GPA.

6. Q. can i get financial help to study in USA. I have 3 yrs. of experience in search engine optimization and
search engine marketing. I want to have internet marketing studies in Master’s program. i have no bank
balance.
A. In the U.S. about 40% of all international graduate students studying report the primary source of
their funding to be their U.S. host institution. This chat is for those looking for undergraduate financial
aid. We will be doing another chat in the coming weeks that focuses on graduate financial aid. In the
meantime, please begin a search on our EducationUSA site for students at:
http://www.educationusa.info/pages/students/search.php to generate a preliminary list of schools that
offer the intended major you wish to pursue.
Q. Another question of mine would be that is it possible to combine a scholarship and a financial aid in
order to receive money from more sources ?
A. If a student receives a financial aid package from my school and wants to combine that with money
from other sources that's wonderful!
Q. can education in USA give me hand in application for immigration to US procedures when I apply for
it??
A.: EducationUSA advisers can offer you guidance on applying for a visa and taking a visa interview.
They also offer Pre Departure orientations before you go to the US
A.: To Bulelani Jili: Every scholarship that institutions might award can and do have different criteria.
The answers will differ depending on the institution, and the competitiveness of the pool of applicants
for each award.
Q. What is GPA required for transfer from a USA school?
A.: if you transfer between one US school to another, you should check with both schools on the specific
requirements.
Q. Hi Catrillia- Greetings from Cyprus!
A.: Hello Gulsen! Good to see you in the chat!
Q. What does the $28,000 per year cost cover?
A.: The $28,000 estimate covers the cost of tuition, fees, food, housing and other expenses such as
health insurance, travel to and from the US and books.
Q. I checked your website for scholarship information and it seems the maximum is $5,000 per year. Is
this correct?
A.: No, the $5,000 amount should be the average amount of aid received. The maximum is around
$10,000 per year.

7. A.: To Michael 2: we will be having another session like this on the topic of Visas next week:
http://edusaconnects.acrobat.com/visas When: December 14, 2010 8:30 am – 9:30 am (EST-US)
Q. are there any students from Bangladesh at SUNY-Plattsburgh?
A.: We have some students from Bangladesh! We hope to send an admissions officer there in the fall to
recruit students.
Q. Do I need to complete SAT & TOEFL both to get scholarships?
A.: You will typically need high test scores on both the SAT or ACT and TOEFL or IELTs. Check with the
school directly to learn more about test scores and financial aid options
Q. greetings from Australia!! just wondering is it possible to waive application fees to university?
A.: yes, schools may waive the application fee. You should check with the schools admissions office for
more information.
Q. We have percentage system, how do you generally calculate it to GPA ?
A.: We look at the country where the student studied and what system the student was studying in
(local high school, IB program, O-levels, etc.) and compare that the US system to figure out what the
student's GPA is. Each school evaluates applications differently, however.
Q. For Marty only! Hi Marty, Lynn was advertising a volleyball scholarship for women at some point. Not
sure if we can say that here.
A. (privately): sure, go ahead and type that in the chat and we'll post it
Q. Some books (like College Handbook from the College Board) say , for example, ‘average need met
was 70%’. What does this actually mean? Does this mean that out the total students that applied, 70%
were fully funded? Or does this mean that on average, the college was able to meet 70% of the need of
students as calculated by the college?
A.: it would mean that 70% of the costs that the student needed was met. Typically, however, aid will
only cover a small portion of costs in most cases. A full scholarship means over 90% of the costs to
study is awarded to the student
Q. Hi. Could you advise me what I should write in my application to increase my chances of getting
financial aid? Are there some special aspects?
A. First of all, your application must be an honest reflection of you as a person. Your essay is particularly
important; you can get guidance from your EducationUSA Advising Center, where you will find books
and online resources as well as workshops to help you write a strong essay.
Q. What is considered to be a good GPA result?

8. A.: 4.0 is the highest GPA you can receive
Q. Are the terms and conditions for scholarships and need based financial aid same for the other SUNY
institutions like SUNY Stony Brook and SUNY Buffalo ?
A.: No, each SUNY institution has different requirements for scholarships and need-based aid, if they
offer it to international students.
Q. can u give us idea about the ones that give full aids
A.: Hello Ram, there are dozens of institutions as Rick outline that give full aid, but that list changes from
year to year. For the most current information, please visit the EducationUSA Advising Center in your
country. A searchable list is available at: http://www.educationusa.info/centers.php
Q. When does a student request financial aid? Is there a form separate from the admission application?
A. Hello Yaounde! Most U.S. universities that offer need-based financial aid use the International
Student Financial Aid Application, which you can find online or from your EducationUSA Advisor. Apply
for aid at the same time you apply for admission, NOT after your admission is offered.
Thanks for joining this EdUSA session. That is all the time we have for now, but come back today at 4pm
(EST) or on Monday, December 13 from 11 am - 12 noon (EST) for another session. For more assistance,
contact an EducationUSA advising center near you listed at www.educationusa.state.gov