Paying for overseas postgrad studies

For the American students currently studying postgrad in the UK, I was just wondering how you were able to afford it? I know it's like the double the cost non UL/EU students. I'm considering going to grad school over there, but I'm not sure how I could come up with the money.

Are there scholarships or grants available for international students? I don't think that the US grants would count over there, and I'm trying to avoid taking out too much money in loans.

Two words: student loans.   That's how I funded my one-year masters- worth it in the end for me, but definitely expensive!

There are some scholarships out there for international students, but they're relatively rare, may only be for a small amount (I got a £500 international scholarship- nice, but my tuition was £8,600 so a drop in the bucket really), or are *extremely* competitive (overseas research awards for postgrad research students come to mind.)  In the vast majority of cases, you'll be expected to pay your own way.  International students are a *huge* cash cow for British universities, so they understandably don't want to give too much of that up!

There are some grants available for US students studying in the UK but to my knowledge they are for very small amounts - 500 to 1000 pounds. Most US students here pay by taking out US federal or private student loans and/or using personal or family funds. The cost of living in some parts of the UK is extremely high too, which adds to the overall cost of studying here. You just have to ask yourself if the program you're interested in is worth it for you.

Yeah, I looked up some of the schools that had tuition from like 9,500-$10,000 p/year for international students. I'm hoping that's for the whole academic year, right? And not the semester...

International fees are usually between £8,000 and £15,000 per year (depending on university, location and degree course) - so that's about $13,000 to $24,000 per year. On top of this, you'll need to have living costs available too... universities usually estimate somewhere between £7,000-£10,000 per year for living expenses ($11,000-$16,000 - the larger amounts will be for the London area due the higher cost of living there) - so it is expensive .

However, if you're looking to do a masters course in the UK, the good news is that most UK masters degrees are only 12 months long, compared to the 2-3 years it often takes to get a masters in the US, so you'll probably only need to gather enough funding for one year.

You can work up to 20 hours per week on a student visa, so you can earn some money while you are studying in the UK, but you will need to prove that you have access to enough money to cover fees and living costs for the entire length of the degree in order to be issued with a student visa.

Different universities and programs have different fee structures - but the costs are cited per year. There are not semesters here but three terms. The fees vary, but most international students pay somewhere between 10k and 20k (pounds) per year for postgraduate degrees, and most MA/MSc programs are 1-2 years long. Your prospective university's website will explain everything.

Just don't forget to factor in living costs. Living in London, for instance, is very expensive. You can find plenty of details online!

There are not semesters here but three terms.

Depends on the university.  Some UK universities use three terms, others use semesters.  But yes, the costs quoted are always for the full year.

Depends on the university.  Some UK universities use three terms, others use semesters.  But yes, the costs quoted are always for the full year.

My undergrad university (Exeter) had two 11-week semesters spread over three 10-week terms and the lecture courses were 11 weeks long, but my post-grad university (Bristol) had two 12-week semesters spread over three 10-week terms, but instead of each class lasting 12 weeks, we had four teaching blocks of 6 weeks each (so we would take one lecture course in weeks 1-6, then another course in weeks 7-12, but the final exams for each course weren't until week 13!). In contrast, Oxford and Cambridge operate on 8-week terms so you are in school for 24 weeks of the year and out of school for 28 weeks... talk about confusing !

Most universities offer funding for overseas students (such as the ORS scholarship).  Typically, they are small sums of money, but sometimes they cover the difference between international and domestic tuition fees.  Also, regular FAFSA loans do work over here.

I'm using student loans and personal savings to fund my tuition (which is £9,000 per year) and living expenses. It's not a wealthy life, but I don't know of anyone, anywhere in a PhD programme who is rolling in the dough.

For me, the overseas tuition is going to be less than going to a US university because of the degree I'm getting. In the US, I'd be stuck with a minimum of $30,000 a year (because of the small number of univerisities that would have a place for my dissertation) and be in a 5-year MA/PhD programme, at best.

I'm using student loans and personal savings to fund my tuition (which is £9,000 per year) and living expenses. It's not a wealthy life, but I don't know of anyone, anywhere in a PhD programme who is rolling in the dough.

For me, the overseas tuition is going to be less than going to a US university because of the degree I'm getting. In the US, I'd be stuck with a minimum of $30,000 a year (because of the small number of univerisities that would have a place for my dissertation) and be in a 5-year MA/PhD programme, at best.

I wasn't shocked by the costs of grad programs here after paying $48,000 a year for undergrad, none of the programs I am looking at seem to touch that.

For Ph.D. studies, it is sometimes possible to get funding. The research councils will not allow non-EU students to get studentships, but some charities will allow international students to take them up. One of my former labmates is from China, and the charity funding her project allowed our former supervisor to give her the position. They paid the EU-level fees and a stipend, and she had to pay the difference between EU and non-EU, which worked out to about £7000 and took up a large chunk of her stipend. I was extremely fortunate, and got a university-funded studentship that had no conditions on nationality, and it also paid the EU fees and a stipend; I also got an ORS award to pay the difference, and used my FAFSA loans to help with living expenses. So it is possible, but it's difficult. For taught postgrad degrees there is very little available, and most people I know doing those have used a combination of savings, family money and loans.

It also depends on your area of work. In general, funding for the humanities is terrible, regardless of nationality. Being a non-EU student makes it even harder.

There's also a huge variation between universities, and if you're worried about paying but don't have a strong reason for one uni over another, it makes sense to investigate the current studentships on offer at various locations.

Same as springhaze - student loans and the tiniest bit of savings.  There were almost no scholarships available from my school or within my programme.  I was extremely lucky in that I had no debt from my undergraduate.  I got the full $18,500 Stafford loan amount and then used my small savings (another $5k) to pay the difference.  Of course, this was back when the dollar was 2:1 for the pound, so it's actually easier for you to pay for UK tuition right now, grrrrr.

I paid for my Msc, with a rather substancial loan from the bank of "Mum and Dad".