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Hi everyone,

Are any of you studying abroad without government aid or your parents ? How are you funding it?

Right now I am seriously considering (among other things) doing a year MA in Islamic Education at International Islamic University in Malaysia.

The Dollar-Ringgit conversion rate is in my favour, but still I know considering living expenses, plane tickets and housing I may fall short of what I need.

This school isn't FAFSA listed so I don't believe I can get American Federal student aid for it.

cheers,

Samantha***

There are a lot of grants and scholarships out there for people wanting to study overseas..

I know the Rotary Foundation has some sort of scholarship program and I've heard about something called the Fulbright scholarship..but I don't know too much about it, just that its for Americans wanting to do graduate studies overseas.

You just have to look extra hard for some good ones, but the money is out there

Look into a paid internship. Do a google search of companies or organizations that do work that you could contribute to, and e-mail your resume to everyone who's e-mail you can get your hands on. I had very low hopes of finding one for this summer, because I have such an esoteric major (Nuclear Engineering), but I sent out probably 100 e-mails, and now have a choice of 3 paid positions. Indicate that you know of how super aweome their company is, you want to contribute, blah, blah, blah, attach a resume, and repeat this as many times as you can stand it. Someone will bite.

If federal aid isn't an option, you might have to try for private loans. But you've probably got a better chance of finding a fellowship or something instead.

quote:

Originally posted by sunnybuns:
There are a lot of grants and scholarships out there for people wanting to study overseas..

This is what I think too. I have heard of scholarship grants for Japan and Singapore and I am pretty sure you can find one in Malaysia.
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Samantha,

A lot of good advice here already, but you might also consider writing formal letters to Islamic non-profits and support centers, explaining your choice of study, your financial need, and expressing a willingness to work. Many such organizations have active missions and offices in Kuala Lumpur. There is a lot of financing floating around at the moment, and it might be possible to work, as gtrob suggests, via a paid internship.

Wait- it's an MA? doesn't Fulbright cover grad education? I know they usually want some kind of larger project, but have you tried them?

j.

My BFF is a Fulbright right now. He says that pretty much the only grad-program Fulbrights that the US State Dept. funds anymore are for (wait for it) ... Islamic Studies. Good news for you. Just hope your grades are good enough.