If you are using financial aid now to pay for your college costs, you should also be able to use financial aid for study abroad. You may even be able to have your aid increased if your overseas program costs more than your home campus does. Under Federal Law, you can use federal financial aid for overseas study, and the factor of study abroad costs may be included in the needs analysis. Aid received through New York State can also be used. However, aid received directly from your home campus, such as work-study or specific grants, might not be available. Also remember you must be registered as a full-time student (minimum of 12 credits) to remain eligible for financial aid.

Financial aid can only be processed at your home campus. If you attend a four-year SUNY school, financial aid arrangements will be simple because you will remain registered at your home campus. If you attend any other school, things may be more complicated and some of your aid may not be usable. Only your home campus can tell you how much aid you will get and how and when your aid for the time you are overseas will be released.

If your home campus is not UAlbany, UAlbany will work with you to have your aid used to pay any amounts due to the Office of International Education or to the Bursar at UAlbany. You should submit your applications for aid as early as you can, even if you do not know which program you are going to go on. You can revise your FAFSA form once you have received the full Estimate of Costs from the administering SUNY campus.

UAlbany students matriculated in degree programs are eligible to apply for all state and federal financial aid programs, including Regents College Scholarships, TAP, Pell Grants, Guaranteed Student Loans, and Parent Loans. File your applications at the Office of Financial Aid by their regular deadline even if you do not know where you will be studying overseas.

When you decide where you are going to go, bring a copy of your letter of acceptance into the overseas program and a copy of the Estimate of Costs for that program to the Office of Financial Aid and talk with someone about how to reconcile these costs with your aid package. You will probably have to make arrangements with the Office of Student Accounts and sign promissory notes so that your bills get paid when your aid comes in and so that any money that is left over goes to you. If your aid will be transferred electronically from your bank to UAlbany, be sure you sign all necessary authorizations, including the Entrance Form, before your departure. The phone number of the Office of Student Accounts at UAlbany is (518) 442-3202.

It will be worth the trouble if you can arrange before you leave to have your "extra" money deposited into an account that is connected to an ATM that you can make withdrawals from while you are overseas.

SUNY students must apply for aid on their home campus. Bring the Estimate of Costs that UAlbany has sent you to the Office of Financial Aid at your home campus and work with that office to see how you will pay UAlbany what you owe to UAlbany. Remember that you will be paying your regular SUNY tuition and the University Fee and possibly some other campus specific fees to your home campus while you are overseas.

Non-SUNY students must apply for aid on their home campus. There may be some restrictions on the applicability of your financial aid if your campus requires you to take a leave of absence to study abroad. Because procedures vary greatly from campus to campus, your home campus must advise you about any aid you are eligible for when you are enrolled on an UAlbany program. Bring the Estimate of Costs that UAlbany has sent you to the Office of Financial Aid at your home campus and work with that office to see how you will pay UAlbany and also any other fees you may have to pay to your home campus while you are overseas. Your campus may need a letter from UAlbany confirming your enrollment in our program, the dates of our program, and the number of credits you will take. We will be happy to assist you.

Your school may tell you that your aid cannot be processed until a Consortium Agreement between UAlbany and your home campus is in effect. This document states that UAlbany is not processing your aid. Since this is true, we will be able to assist you in having that form signed by the proper office. Send it to the Office of International Education and we will help you get it done.

All students should be sure to go to their Office of Financial Aid as soon as possible. Find out what you need to do in order to process and receive your aid. There have been cases in which students have not signed the correct forms and have not received their aid in time. This can cause problems that are difficult to resolve while you are overseas. Therefore, be sure everything is in place before you go.

Financial Aid for EOP Students

EOP students are eligible for financial aid for study abroad. Contact your EOP adviser before the start of your program. Bring along a copy of the Estimate of Costs for your program so that your adviser can compare your overseas costs with your usual on-campus expenses. You will receive the same funding that you would get if you were staying on campus. You will be advised about additional loans you may need to cover your other program costs. It is possible that your financial aid will not cover all of your study abroad expenses.

Receiving Your Financial Aid

Getting your financial aid when you need it isn’t always easy. The official "disbursement dates" for financial aid are usually tied to the academic calendar of your home campus and may be rather late for fall study abroad programs that actually begin in July or August. If you are going on a program with an early starting date, contact your Office of Financial Aid to see if arrangements can be made to release some funds earlier. You should be able to have your Guaranteed Student Loan checks about a month before the start of the program if you make arrangements early.

UAlbany’s Office of International Education will work with you if you are using financial aid to cover your program costs. If you are going to be using financial aid to pay your bills, you may request that UAlbany extend your payment due dates until your aid has come in.

To request a deferral, you MUST submit a copy of your award letter to UAlbany and make suitable arrangements for your aid to be paid to UAlbany. The Estimate of Costs that you get in your acceptance pack lists all the amounts that are payable to UAlbany, so be sure that you have submitted a copy of that Estimate to the financial aid office at your home campus. Then, when your aid comes in, it will be used to pay your bills at your home campus. The balance can be used to pay your bills at UAlbany and your expenses overseas.

Please note that there are costs that must be paid prior to your leaving - travel, passport, visas. UAlbany cannot convince these agents to wait for your aid to come in! If you are facing severe problems in making advance payments for your study abroad program, and you know that your aid will be sufficient to cover all your costs, talk to us. We’ll try to help you figure out how to manage.

Scholarships and Other Sources of Aid

We are sorry, but UAlbany has no funds for financial aid for non-UAlbany students. However, a few of our programs may provide scholarship aid from their own resources. If they do, you will automatically receive information about these in your acceptance packet.

There are limited national scholarships funded by various organizations. A good place to start is at the University of Minnesota’s website where you will find a searchable database for study abroad scholarships. In addition, the National Security Education Program (NSEP) offers limited scholarships. There are also Bowman Travel Grants sponsored by CIEE. On the CIEE website, you will find information about several other scholarships as well. Also check on Freeman Scholarships for study in East Asia and the Gilman Scholarships.