By Kysa Harte
The U.S.A is a well-known country that persons from around the world choose to further their higher education. In most movies and television shows, college in the U.S.A. is portrayed as a mixture of education and fun. Because college is portrayed in such a way, widely, persons from all corners of the earth decide to study in the U.S.A. in hopes of having these same experiences but are not aware of the costs at which these experiences will come.
International Student's Opinion On Financial Aid
Tonieann Harvey, 22, a former student of CUNY York College and current Nursing Major at CUNY Hunter College, is an international student who decided studying in the U.S.A would be best for her. Upon arrival at college, Harvey was hit with reality- there was no system in place to help her pay for the education she desired.
When Harvey moved to the USA from Jamaica, excitement filled her mind as she realized she would soon be starting college. After reality hit, Harvey, instead of being excited about college classes and making new friends, began to worry about how she would pay for the 15 credits she was taking. As an international student, she was offered no financial aid and there on her CUNYfirst page, was a large balance waiting to be paid off. Harvey said, “I love going to college and learning but nothing is more annoying than having to pay tuition out of pocket on your own. It sometimes worries me.”
According to an international student website designed to answer questions for international students, federal aid is not provided to international students. Knowing this, Harvey said, “I understand that federal aid cannot be offered to international students because it’s a lot of us and Americans would have to be prioritized because this is their country. My confusion is though if the country is encouraging students to come here to study, why would they not put greater measures in place to ensure that we can at least afford tuition? Or are we just expected to have it all figured out?”
The website offered a bit of advice that encourages international students to request funding from governments or organizations in their respective home countries, and while this may be a good suggestion, there is no guarantee that governments or organizations will try to aid international students. But, why should international students go through such great lengths just to receive some aid?
According to CUNY’s official website, international students, or as they say ‘foreign nationals’ are offered limited financial aid. There are several schools in the USA that offer non-federal financial aid to students but ironically, the City University of New York (CUNY), the system designed to provide civilians with affordable college, does not plainly explain to international students benefits they may be able to receive.
Some international students use recruiters to help with their applying process and trust that they are being told useful information by these recruiters, but because these recruiters rarely, if ever, mention to students that financial aid can be offered to ‘foreign nationals’ students go into college ‘blindly’ and are left accountable with a great lump sum. The financial aid office from York College was contacted via email for insight on how their process works but the author was not given any information.
Potential International Student's Opinion on Scholarships
Other than not being offered financial aid, most scholarships offered through colleges, are, once again, designed mostly for American citizens or permanent residents. While this is fortunate for persons that fit that category, not being offered a scholarship can prohibit students from attending college because of a lack of affordability for specific institutions.
Marcelle Pierre, 18, a citizen of Guyana, has been seeking opportunities to study in the USA but has not found an institution where she can settle comfortably. Pierre is interested in studying Visual Development and there is no institution in Guyana that specializes in this program. Because there is no place for Pierre to focus on her interests,
she applied to an accredited college that would help her learn about her interests.
Pierre, soon after applying to the college, was accepted and was awarded a scholarship, but even after that scholarship was applied, there was still a great balance left to be paid. Because the sum was vast, she was not able to attend the college. Pierre had the option of taking out a student loan but the fear of being indebted to a bank for a lifetime discouraged her from applying for one.
She said, “It was incredibly disheartening that I had to decline acceptance because of tuition prices even after being offered a scholarship. I’d read of stories of people who were still paying off loans many years after graduating and I decided that wasn’t what I wanted for myself especially considering I don’t have a job waiting for me the moment I graduate.”
Julissa Contreras, an Administrative Specialist for Scholarship Enterprises at York College, was a designated school official and has stated that international students are a population that is very close to her heart. Because she is fond of these types of students, she does as much as she can to find scholarships for international students. Contreras, via an email interview, said, “I believe that they [international students] need the most support and should be able to feel that they have a place in our school. We work hard to help them identify opportunities for funding as they are charged double the tuition.”
Though Contreras loves helping international students, she knows that scholarships are not as available for them as they are for other students. She said, “The fact is that an international student came to this country after submitting a series of paperwork to the college in order to get an I20 to go to the embassy in their country to obtain an F1 student visa. The paperwork included documentation that they had enough funding to cover them for 4 years of study. This is what makes it challenging to offer scholarships to this population.”
Despite the challenge, Contreras assures that the scholarship office at York offers scholarships to international students through the YC Foundation and Student Senate Scholarship through CUNY. Contreras even provided a website made by lawyers in California that provide scholarships despite immigration status.
Closing Remarks from the International and Potential International Student
A recent New York Times article speaks about how fewer international students are coming to the U.S.A to study, according to a survey taken by the Institute of International Education. One reason for this decline is that countries like Canada and Britain pose as competition to the U.S.A. In these countries, receiving financial aid and scholarships are easier tasks than they are in the U.S.A. which could be a reason why international students are flocking there.
Both Pierre and Harvey, though very different people, are experiencing similar trials and are pleading with colleges in the U.S.A to provide help or show care for students that are non-American.
Pierre said, “I think having financial aid in place for international students would attract them to the college. I understand that a college would prefer to reserve whatever extra funds they have for their own local students but it’s unfair because the moment someone in my position decides they’d like to check if they qualify for scholarships, it feels as though the university is saying don’t even bother applying and that needs to change.”
Harvey said, "I am just hoping that there will come a time where future international students have everything that they need. I understand the struggle and my wish is that future international students won't have to."
I am so proud of you my big sister Shanaè . Love you so much . Keep up the good works