EDUCATION REPORT - November 21, 2002: Foreign Student Series#10>cost

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We continue our series of reports about how foreign students can study at an American college or university. This information also can be found on the Special English Web page at www.voaspecialenglish.com.

Today, we provide information about how much it costs to attend an American university. All foreign students must have enough money to pay for every year of study at an American college. You can find the costs in a university's catalog or on its Internet web site. The cost of university courses is called tuition. Other costs include a place to live and food to eat at the college, which is called room and board. Other costs are for books and supplies. For example, the University of Colorado at Boulder says a foreign student must pay almost thirty-one-thousand dollars for each year of study. Experts say each foreign student should keep enough money in a local bank near the college to pay the costs for at least two months of college. More than one-thousand foreign students from more than one-hundred countries are attending the University of Colorado this year. There is generally no financial aid for undergraduate foreign students at the university. However, officials say some student musicians and athletes may get financial aid from the university if they show great skill in those areas.

Foreign students must show on university admissions documents how they plan to pay for their education. For example, if you apply to the University of Colorado, you must state on the document who will pay for your education. That person must sign the document and send documents from a bank showing that he or she has the money to do this. If you will be paying the costs, a bank official in your country must write to confirm that you have enough money to do so.

Many colleges in the United States cost much less than the University of Colorado. Some cost even more. Your government or your employer may help you pay some of the costs. It is a good idea to seek such financial aid at least eighteen months before you want to start your studies in the United States.

Next week, we will discuss another cost of attending an American college or university: health insurance.

This VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT was written by Nancy Steinbach.