Financial
Aid for non-EMU students:
Students
not currently enrolled at EMU must apply to their home institutions
for financial aid. The Office of Academic Programs Abroad at EMU
can work with your study abroad or financial aid advisor to provide
cost breakdowns for EMU programs, or to advise or answer questions,
but does not award financial aid to non-EMU students.
TIPS
FOR APPLYING FOR FINANCIAL AID:
Plan
Ahead! Use the Study Abroad Financial Planner: Click Here.
1.
Complete the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA). Plan in
advance! Financial Aid has a calendar
to help you plan. As a general rule, submit your FAFSA at least
six months prior to the date when your study abroad program begins.
March 15 is the priority deadline for submitting all required
documents to receive full consideration for the upcoming academic
year. Because Federal processing usually takes two to four weeks, please submit your FAFSA to the Federal Government no later than February 15th for first consideration.
2.
Check your MyEmich
account for any outstanding financial aid requirements.
Visit
the Financial
Aid Website
Office
of Financial Aid
403 Pierce Hall
734.487.0455
Coordinate
your financial aid with the Study Abroad Office:
Academic
Programs Abroad
103 Boone Hall
734.487.2424
IS
STUDY ABROAD AFFORDABLE?
Study
abroad is an investment in the rest of your life. Not only is
it a source of personal growth, but it offers a wonderful enhancement
to any future career. Talk to anyone who has studied abroad, and
virtually everyone will tell you that it was well worth it-a once-in-a-lifetime
experience. And thanks to financial aid, study abroad is affordable
for almost all students.
Provided
that you attend an approved study abroad program and meet all
the eligibility requirements, you can take advantage of a wide
array of state, federal, EMU institutional and private sources
of aid. The entire cost of a program, including transportation
to and from the program site, tuition, fees, and living expenses,
is taken into account when financial need is determined. This
means that your award will be adjusted according to the actual
cost of the study abroad program. The types of aid available to
you will vary, depending on whether you choose an EMU or non-EMU
program. In many cases, EMU financial aid may be used on non-EMU
programs via a consortium agreement.
In
some cases the aid package that you are initially offered by the
Office of Financial Aid may not be enough, and in those cases
you may want to look into parent
loans and/or alternative
loans .
It
is fairly common for students going on study abroad programs to
take out these types of loans, in order to ensure that they have
sufficient funds to cover all of their expenses. Even if your
parents/guardians or other relatives are unable to help you with
the costs of studying abroad, they can still assist you by serving
as a co-signer for an alternative loan.
EMU
PROGRAMS
An
EMU program is one that is sponsored by the Office of Academic
Programs Abroad (APA); Official EMU programs are all programs
other than those designated as "affiliated" included on the APA web site www.emich.edu/abroad.
If you are attending an EMU program, the credit you earn will
appear on your transcript as regular EMU credit. EMU students
attending an EMU program may apply all of their state, federal,
and EMU institutional aid awards (except work-study), as well
as Michigan Educational Trust (M.E.T.) funds toward the cost of
the program. Presidential and Regents Scholarships may be used
on EMU semester programs only. Private aid awards may or may not
be applicable toward a study abroad program; check with the sponsor.
Some private aid providers may stipulate that a student must be
physically present at EMU or in the State of Michigan to be eligible
for the award.
NON-EMU
PROGRAMS
All
study abroad programs not appearing on the APA web site are considered "non-EMU" programs, even if you have found information about the
program in the APA office. When you attend a non-EMU program,
the credit comes back on your EMU transcript as transfer credit.
If the non-EMU program that you attend is approved for credit
in advance, and if the sponsor of the program that you wish to
attend is an accredited Title IV institution, then you may be
eligible for state and federal (but not EMU institutional) financial
aid. In that case, the mechanism by which the aid is transferred
is a "consortium agreement." A consortium agreement is a form
provided by the EMU Office of Financial Aid that includes blanks
for cost estimates. The sponsor of the program that you wish to
attend must fill in the blanks and return the consortium agreement,
signed by an authorized individual, to the EMU Office of Financial
Aid.
Scholarships:
Visit our Study Abroad Scholarship Page
In
addition to need-based financial aid, we urge you to seek scholarships
to support study abroad. EMU's Office of Academic Programs Abroad
has information in its study abroad library about scholarships
and grants for overseas study. You may visit the study abroad
library in 103 Boone Hall anytime between 8:30 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.,
Monday through Friday.
. Individual study abroad programs may also offer scholarships.
Other
potential funding sources you can investigate include local professional
organizations, corporate sponsors, and churches. Use your contacts
(family, friends, etc.) and your imagination to discover funding!
Academic
Programs Abroad
Eastern Michigan University
103 Boone Hall
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
Voice: 734.487.2424 or toll free 800.777.3541
FAX: 734.487.4377
E-mail : Programs
Abroad
