If you’re undecided as to where you’re going to study, and are up for a challenge, why not think about taking your degree abroad? Over 40,000 American students went across the pond to the UK in 2010 for a summer, semester or a full year.

Finding a course

You’ll need to find a University (College) which has a programme for international students in the course/s you’re taking. A good place to start looking is the educationuk site, which lists all the places of study offering international placements.

If you’re not familiar with the various counties in the UK the site has information on all the colleges and universities in its database, so you can make an informed choice. For obvious reasons it might be easier to choose a placement which includes accommodation.

Getting a Visa

Once you’ve settled on your place of study, you’ll need to decide how long you want to remain in the UK for, and obtain the necessary visa. A ‘student visitor’ visa entitles you to stay in the UK for up to 6 months, without working. A general student visa covers you for up to 4 years and allows you to take a part-time job or do volunteer work while you’re studying.

Finding Accommodation

Halls of Residence tend to be the most popular choice for first year students as it helps them to meet their fellow students and adjust to campus life. Most Halls provide a basic room with a bed, desk and chair, and have a canteen offering cheap meals to the students.

Some Halls are self-catering, with a communal kitchen for all the residents to use. This can be useful if you have particular dietary needs or prefer to bring food from home.

Places in the Halls are limited, although international students are generally given preference so make sure you indicate that you require accommodation when you apply. You can expect to pay anything between £100-£200 per week for a basic room, less if you go self-catering. Utilities and internet bills are included.

If you can’t get a place in Halls, there are always a number of off-campus flats and houses available although these tend to be more expensive and may not be furnished. Rent will vary depending on the location; anything from £50 to £95 per week is considered normal. It’s advised that you start looking for a place as soon as you’re accepted on the course.

Other Costs Involved

Tuition fees in the UK can be much lower than in the US. The highest a UK student can expect to pay is around £9,000 (roughly $14,000), whereas in the US an annual fee of $20,000 is commonplace. Fees are paid as part of a student loan, which is then paid back once the graduate is earning over a certain amount. International students can also get loans for foreign study, but you will need to prove you have a place at a UK place of education before you can apply.

Food: Depending on your preference and where you’re staying, allow around £30-£50 per week. Buying the supermarket own brand products and sharing the grocery bills with your housemates can often work out cheaper than buying everything yourself and getting takeaways every night.

Telephone/Internet: If you’re in shared accommodation you and your housemates will be able to share the cost of the phone and internet, so you could probably get away with a cost of around £10 per week. You could also use internet cafes or University library resources if you don’t need to use the internet a lot.

Cell phones, called mobiles in the UK, will be expensive to run if you keep to a US SIM card. You can get free pay-as-you-go UK SIM cards to use while you’re there, although calling home will use up  a lot of the credit. If you plan to call home a lot, arrange for family and friends to install Skype so you can speak to them over the internet for free.

Household bills, such as utilities and council tax, can be shared with your housemates and you can expect to pay around £10-£15 per week for your share.

Insurance: If you do stay in a private house or flat you’ll also need to consider contents insurance for your personal items, but this can be for as little as £5 per month. If you drive, you’ll also need car insurance which can be rather more expensive. If you get a place close to campus it would be cheaper using public transport. You can get a student bus pass for as little as £9 per week, which will cover all bus journeys in a certain area.

Socializing

Don’t forget to have fun while you’re in the UK! The legal drinking age is 18, and most University campuses have their own bars serving alcohol well into the night.

Many places offer student discounts, so always carry your student card with you to make the most of this!

Carrying Currency

If you’ve got a credit card already this will probably be accepted throughout the UK. However, it might be easier for you to get a prepaid card which allows you to pre-load it with money before spending it. Many students prefer this option, as prepaid cards can be used just like credit cards but avoid the temptation to run up any debts.

You may need to open a UK bank account, especially if you get a part-time job. You might be able to transfer money from your US bank account to a UK bank, so ask in your local branch at first.

To open a UK bank account you’ll need your passport, letter of acceptance, a UK address and references/statements from your home bank.

If you ever wanted to have a study abroad experience during your college years but financial constraints were holding you back, you may want to bookmark this page for future reference.

CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange) has long since been known in the college sector as a leading provider of study abroad opportunities for students. They have been sending students abroad since 1947 and boast having over 140 programs established in 42 countries. Based upon this, it is only natural for people to use study abroad and CIEE together in the same sentence when they are looking at educational opportunities overseas.

CIEE is so committed to their study abroad programs that they are offering a million dollars of scholarship aid for students in financial need. It is being referred to as the GAIN program (Global Access Initiative) and it will provide grants and scholarships to students regardless of whether they are taking study abroad programs for a full year, a single semester, or during the summer. At this time, the GAIN program is committing an additional million dollars to this program each and every year. So, if you are not planning on studying abroad for a couple of years, this still could be a great option for you to help fund that educational experience.

You can visit CIEE’s scholarship page for additional information as it becomes available or you can always email them at studyinfo@ciee.org

Studying abroad during your college years is a great learning experience. Being exposed to different cultures really helps you to develop a big picture approach to life. I hope these additional resources provided by CIEE help to make your dreams of studying abroad a reality.

It is official! The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us. Families everywhere are watching their frozen turkeys thaw in the fridge or in a sink full of water in anticipation that the meal they will be dishing up will be the best ever! Pumpkin pies are flying off the shelves quicker than you can say “I love Cool Whip” and stuffing recipes are being shared in mass via every favorite cooking website known to mankind.  Ah… what a wonderful time of year!

In order to appropriately honor the Thanksgiving holiday in a manner that would make any pilgrim proud, I have decided to dedicate this article to all things turkey – more specifically, anything related to scholarships, turkey, pilgrims, etc…

Enjoy the info below, but in the meantime, I want to wish you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday.

$10,000 National Wild Turkey Federation Scholarship

Are you a hunter? Is hunting an important part of your family heritage? Do you believe in the conservation and preservation of hunting? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are an ideal candidate for the NWTF Academic Scholarship Program.

Local chapters of NWTF are now accepting applications from students that would like to be considered for the scholarship award. Recipients can be awarded a minimum of $250 from the local chapter, $1,000 at the state level, and $10,000 as the national scholarship winner. If you want some tips on what it takes to win the $10,000 prize, take a look at this press release from a past winner.

The deadline for scholarship applications is January 1st. If you would like a copy of the application and comprehensive instructions, you can download a copy here.

General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) Scholarship Program

In the spirit of the Mayflower settlers seeking to better themselves by moving to a new and uncharted world, special consideration will be given to applicants whose demonstrated commitment to bettering themselves makes them especially likely to benefit from the opportunities this scholarship will make possible for them.

Requirements:

Each scholarship recipient must be a graduating senior, must be either a current member of the GSMD or a direct descendant (child, grandchild, great-grandchild) of an active GSMD member whose documentation of Mayflower ancestry would currently be accepted by the Society. Need help researching this information, check out this resource.

Applications are due by the beginning of April. Additional information regarding the scholarship application process is available here.

Scholarships for Studying Abroad in Turkey

When people think about studying abroad, I can tell you that Turkey usually doesn’t even come close to hitting the radar as a potential option. In my years of working in higher education, I think I have witnessed more Turkish students coming over here then I have seen ours visiting Turkey. However, if Turkey is a place that you find interesting, I am glad to share the following opportunities to help you make the trip possible (from a financial standpoint).

Halide Edip Adivar $1000 Scholarship

It is not a lot of money but every bit helps. This scholarship is awarded annually to an undergraduate student that is studying Turkish language, culture, or society. The purpose of the award is to offset any travel costs associated with getting to and from Turkey. If this interests you, you can find more information about the program here. Deadline for application is February 15th.

$20,000 David Boren Scholarship

The Boren scholarship is funded by the National Security Education Program and it provides opportunities for students to study in countries and regions of the world that are of “critical interest to the U.S.” (including Turkey!). The only potential downside to this program is that you agree to work for the Department of Homeland Security following graduation. You are committed to working a year for each year that you received the scholarship. This could be good if you are worried about not getting a job after graduation but it could be bad because you may end up in Turkey for longer than you really wanted…

You can find more information about the David Boren Scholarship program here.

$8,000 Benjamin Gilman International Scholarship

This scholarship program awards 2,300 scholarships each academic year (2010-2011). Students that want to study in the Turkish region are eligible to receive an initial $5,000 and another $3,000 due to the “critical need language supplement” (basically, if the student is going to be studying the Turkish common and vernacular language, they may be eligible for the additional $3,000).

You can find more information about the Benjamin Gilman scholarship program here.

I think that is all I have for now. I hope these Turkey Day Scholarships prove to be useful for you and your family as you look to close the gap on your educational expenses this holiday season.