The matter of finance

Abhishek Singhal   
The expert is Co-founder, UnivAdmitHelp 

Q. What are the funding options for my studies abroad? — Simarpreet Singh

A. Studying outside India can be very expensive. A four-year engineering course at a top university like MIT can cost upwards of Rs 1.5 crore. This is way more than corresponding engineering courses in India and out of reach of many.

There are many ways of reducing this cost and financing pathways which are available.

Cost Reduction: MIT offers need-blind scholarships for all of its students. So, if you are able to get an admission at MIT, and if your family's income is below the threshold set for this school, you can get a 100 per cent waiver on your education costs. 

Similarly financial aid and scholarships help you reduce the total burden. We have seen that students are usually able to shave off at least 50 per cent from the total cost of such a programme. 

Such opportunities of cost reduction are more extensive in undergraduate courses, but are virtually non-existent in highly professional, job oriented programs like MBAs.

Loans and student work opportunities: You can get student loans. Often, if you are not a minor, you can get a loan without a co-signor. The strength of the admission is good enough to get you an unsecured loan. The only flip side is that this loan is dollar denominated and needs to be paid in dollars and not in Indian currency. 

Student work opportunities are also widely available, and are especially relevant in the context of MS studies. Many students do some kind of Research Assistance (helping out a researcher at the university with his/her research) or Teaching Assistance (helping out the teacher of a course with teaching the course) — this can help them reduce substantive portions from their course fees.