Indiana University
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Prospective Undergraduate Students
Indiana University offers awards to outstanding undergraduates, including international applicants. Awards are made on the basis of application materials. If you have excellent test scores and a good academic record, this may be a possibility. For more information, look at the IUBHonor website.
International students can usually work on campus. During the regular school year, students may work up to 20 hours per week. During the summers and vacation time, they may work up to 40 hours per week. Although your job may help with educational expenses, the money you hope to earn from hourly work (not a graduate or research assistantship) cannot be used to support your initial request for a student visa. All international students must receive work authorization prior to beginning work. For additional information on employment regulations, see F-1 Visa Status Employment or J-1 Visa Status Employment.
The best sources of aid for prospective undergraduates students are:
- Aid from home country
- U.S. federal aid
- Nongovernmental sources
About 93% of foreign undergraduate students at IU are funded by home-country sources, either from private funds or home-country scholarships. But it certainly cannot hurt to search the Internet. A few of the major grant agencies for undergraduates are listed at the bottom of this page.
To find out about opportunities for undergraduates from your country, contact an overseas advising center. Advisors in most centers provide information and meet with students free of charge; come prepared to talk about your educational goals. You can locate your nearest advising center by calling the U.S. Embassy, the United States Information Service, or the U.S. bi-national commission in your country. You could also try to find the OSEAS advisor in your region. OSEAS stands for Overseas Educational Advisers, and its members advise prospective international students on university study in the United States. More information on OSEAS educational advising can be found at the U.S. Department of State Website.
The application procedure varies for each aid source. In some cases you will find yourself applying to an organization, (e.g., the Institute of International Education), which will in turn apply for you to various universities. In these cases students may not be able to choose where they attend. Other organizations allow students to apply to any university, and then submit an application for aid once they are accepted.
Think, too, about your special interests, minority group, or affiliation. For example, a lot of aid may be specifically for religious groups, for female students, for students with disabilities, or for students with demonstrable special interests or expertise (e.g., racehorses, or peace studies).
