College scholarships in the USA are an incentive for many international students who are looking for a good education at a more affordable cost. The United States of America is the country that offers more financial aid to international students. The main reason is that they are aware that their university education is not cheap and they want to facilitate access as much as possible. But there is another reason which is to attract global talent to their classrooms by offering scholarships of up to 100%. By talent we don’t just mean academic talent but artistic or athletic talent as well. When you prepare your applications for admission to universities in the United States you must take into account the type of university and the possibility of scholarship you can have. In the United States there are several types of undergraduate institutions as shown in the following diagram:
Types of universities in the United States
When preparing your applications for admission to universities in the United States you should consider what type of university it is and the possibility of a scholarship you may have. There are several types of undergraduate institutions in the United States:
- Community Colleges
- Colleges
- Universities
- TOP Universities
In the following chart you can see the price ranges, the level of scholarship offered and the average admission rate.:
How to gain a scholarship to study in the United States?
The financial aid you can receive at a university in the United States is determined by several factors that you should take into account when selecting a university and preparing your application:
- You should check that the university offers scholarships or financial aid to international students (as a general rule, but not always true, public universities do not offer scholarships to international students).
- You must check whether or not there is a specific application deadline to be eligible for a scholarship. See our blog article Differences between application deadlines in the USA.
- You should check what are the requirements to be eligible for a scholarship. In most cases there are no requirements since the evaluation is holistic, but in many cases you may be asked for a certain GPA (Grade Point Average) or SAT/ACT score.
Types of scholarships in the United States
There are different types of scholarships in the United States.
International Scholarships
The first and easiest is the International Scholarship. It is simply a discount offered by some universities to attract international students to their classrooms. It is granted automatically and is merely a discount on the total cost of tuition.
It does not usually have specific requirements and can be as much as 15% or 20% of the tuition cost. This type of scholarship is usually granted by medium/low private universities and many of them are religious.
At Five Lands International Education we can help you to get this type of scholarships since we know which universities offer them. Contact us and we will help you with the process and paperwork.
Merit-Based Scholarships
The second and most common type is the Merit-Based Scholarship. This type of scholarship is awarded on purely academic merit and can be up to 80%. The basic requirements are a rigorous academic curriculum, GPA (Grade Point Average) from Grade 9th of at least 3.90, and a SAT score of at least 1450 (ACT 31). Usually these scholarships are awarded
automatically without having to do any other process besides que standard application for admission; however they may have specific application deadlines that should be reviewed in advance. At Five Lands International Education we have the necessary resources for you to prepare and maximize your options to get a Merit Scholarships. Contact us and we will help you with the application process.
Need-Based and Need Blind Scholarships
The third type of scholarship is called Need-Based Scholarship with a variation called Need-Blind Scholarship. These scholarships can cover 100% of all expenses, including housing.
For this reason, these scholarships are very difficult to obtain because in addition to an excellent academic curriculumt, you must demonstrate that you do not have the economic resources to cover university expenses.
Both are scholarships that are normally granted by TOP private universities. Moreover, not all universities that offer this type of scholarship offer them to international students, so you should check in advanced before starting the application process. The difference between the Need-Based Scholarship and the Need-Blind Scholarship is that whereas in the first one they check the finances of your sponsor (usually the parents) to check the are below their defined theshold, in the second one they do not look at this information and the decision is purely academic. At Five Lands International Education we know well the process to follow to apply for these scholarships. Contact us and we will help you with the process.
Athletic Scholarships
Last but not least are the Athletic Scholarships. As their name suggests, these are scholarships awarded to athletes in a multitude of sports. These scholarships can cover 100% of the total cost of tuition including accommodation. There are a multitude of agencies that are dedicated exclusively to the promotion of athletes at each university.
When thinking about this type of scholarship you must ask yourself a key question, what is your priority, academic or athletic.
That is to say, would you only go to a university if you are practicing sports and with a scholarship or your priority is the best university in your area of study and then be able to access the team once you have been admitted.
If the answer is the first one, contact a specialized agency. If the answer is the second one, contact us because there are other options to study and practice sports at the same time.
At Five Lands International Education we have the best consultants to help you increase your scholarship options in the United States. Visit our programs or contact us through this contact form.
