If you are seeking help with funding for higher education, you should first contact the financial aid
office at the college or university you plan to attend. (For a list of colleges and universities with
financial aid offices on the World Wide Web, see
FinAid's Financial Aid Offices Web Page). Direct financial assistance from your college, federal and
state subsidized loan and grant programs, work-study programs, and support from local clubs, alumni,
or religious groups are all possibilities. Some corporations also offer scholarships or tuition-aid
programs to their employees or to children of employees. After all of the above resources have been
exhausted, you should consider approaching foundations or other outside funders on your own.
You may want to start the process by taking the Foundation Center's interactive e-learning tutorial,
Finding Foundation Support for Your
Education, that guides students through the process of seeking financial support from
foundations to pursue their studies. Here you will learn the basics about such topics as facts about
foundations that provide financial aid for individuals, other sources beyond foundations, resources
for the scholarship seeker, and how to apply. This fully interactive tutorial also includes several
worksheets you can download and complete to assist in your search for funding and a self-test to
reinforce what you've learned. Free registration and
Macromedia
Flash Player are required.
Many public libraries in the U.S. have extensive collections of scholarship directories for undergraduate
and graduate students. Foundation Center library collections are devoted to information about foundations,
corporate grantmakers and their grants. Instead of distributing funds directly to individuals, most
foundation and corporate grants for scholarships and fellowships are awarded to educational institutions,
which in turn disburse the funds to individuals.
Each of the Foundation Center's five libraries has a collection of materials of interest to individual grantseekers. The Foundation Center's information on grantmakers for individuals is available in two formats and may be helpful in your search for foundation funding. They are:
The print version includes a short section called "International Applicants" which lists grants to non-U.S. citizens. When using the online version, look for the term "Foreign applicants" in the Types of Support index.
Foundation Grants to Individuals, in both formats, includes information on grantmakers giving to individuals for research and education, for the arts and sciences, and even for personal, living and medical expenses. Information about how to apply for funding from each foundation is included. All Foundation Center libraries and Cooperating Collections provide free public access to the print version of Foundation Grants to Individuals, and some may have the online version as well. These resource tools also may be purchased through the Marketplace.
The following resources contain additional information on finding funding for study in the U.S.:
- Johnson, Nichole (ed.) Funding U.S. Studies: Graduate and Post-Graduate Opportunities for Latin Americans. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Institute of International Education. 2003.
- Obst, Daniel (ed.) Funding for United States Study: A Scholarship Guide for Europeans. New York, NY: Institute of International Education. 2005.
For other books and articles with information on financial funding for international study, try searching our
Catalog of Nonprofit Literature (CNL), the Center's
bibliographic database. You could start searching on the subject
"Scholarships fellowships and loans--international students--directories".
Many of the books and articles found through CNL can be located in Center Libraries and some
Cooperating Collections. It is best to call ahead to verify a specific library's holdings.
There are also a few Web sites that may be of help:
- The Foundation Center's Reference Guide for
International Students lists specific print and electronic resources that you may find useful.
- FastWeb is a free scholarship search engine that allows you
to input information relevant to you and your situation and then presents a listing of matching funding
opportunities.
- Another good Web site especially designed for international students is EduPass'
Smart Student Guide to Studying in the USA. The site
offers financial aid and other resources for international students including links to financial
aid sources for Canadian and European students.
- Other possible sources for funding include The Institute of International
Education's Web page which offers information about international education and training programs,
including Fulbright scholarships.
- NAFSA: Association of International Educators offers information on
financial aid for foreign nationals studying in the United States; bibliographies and links to other
information sites.
- Study in the USA provides international students with information
about hundreds of colleges, universities and English-language programs in the United States.
- The Social Science Research Council also supports international
fellowships and grant programs in the social sciences.
To learn more about foundation funding for individuals, attend our free one-hour class, Finding Foundation Support for Your Education.
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