Studying in US can be a costly affair. With tuition ranging from $15- $35K , and average monthly expense around $1k, you can look at 2 year total cost of US education to be in range of $55k – $80k for a 2 year program.
This is a big amount especially for students coming from Non European countries where Dollar vs their local currency disparity can be pretty high. Example $ 1 = 60 Indian Rs.
So the big question is How do International Students finance this costly education ?
According to Institute Of International Education,an independent non profit, 63.6% students in 2012-13 financed the US education through personal savings or with help from family.
2011/12 – 2012/13
| INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS BY PRIMARY SOURCE OF FUNDING, 2011/12 – 2012/13 | ||||
| Primary Source of Funding | 2011/12 Int’l Students | 2012/13 Int’l Students | 2012/13 % of Total | % Change |
| Personal and Family | 486,524 | 520,920 | 63.6 | 7.1 |
| U.S. College or University | 164,394 | 169,566 | 20.7 | 3.1 |
| Foreign Government or University | 44,344 | 57,898 | 7.1 | 30.6 |
| Current Employment | 40,494 | 43,800 | 5.3 | 8.2 |
| Foreign Private Sponsor | 9,670 | 9,229 | 1.1 | -4.6 |
| U.S. Private Sponsor | 5,871 | 5,218 | 0.6 | -11.1 |
| U.S. Government | 4,746 | 6,399 | 0.8 | 34.8 |
| International Organization | 1,869 | 1,412 | 0.2 | -24.5 |
| Other Sources | 6,583 | 5,202 | 0.6 | -21.0 |
| Total | 764,495 | 819,644 | 100.0 | 7.2 |
From the statistics, it is evident that the bulk of students 520,.920 in 2012-2013 used their personal or family funds to finance their education!! 20.7% of colleges provide financial aid/loans to the international students.
With states slashing the budget, and foreign students paying top dollar, universities in US have been relying on international students to fill up this funding gap
Some interesting statistics regarding the international students enrollments in US.
| TOP 5 PLACES OF ORIGIN OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS, 2011/12 – 2012/13 | |||||||
| Rank | Place of Origin | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2012/13 % of Total | % Change | ||
| WORLD TOTAL | 764,495 | 819,644 | 100.0 | 7.2 | |||
| 1 | China | 194,029 | 235,597 | 28.7 | 21.4 | ||
| 2 | India | 100,270 | 96,754 | 11.8 | -3.5 | ||
| 3 | South Korea | 72,295 | 70,627 | 8.6 | -2.3 | ||
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 34,139 | 44,566 | 5.4 | 30.5 | ||
| 5 | Canada | 26,821 | 27,357 | 3.3 | 2.0 | ||
Source : IIE
Now think about this. The average tuition cost in US has been increasing in last 4 years. But a growing middle class in developing world, and lack of quality education in home country has provided them an opportunity to look for options outside their home.
Not surprising , in fall 2012-2013 survey, colleges in US have seen an strong growth in international students enrollment