External funding bodies
There are hundreds of funding bodies helping international students attend university in the USA. They include trusts, charities and private donors committed to a particular educational mission.
Like niche scholarships, external funding bodies often have specific qualities they are looking for in applicants, such as:
- Gender
- Country of origin
- Ethnicity
- Interests
- Talents
- Religious denomination
- Medical condition
There is bound to be a scholarship applicable to your situation. The following resources can help you search for scholarships based on your circumstances:
- EducationUSA
- Funding for US Study
- BigFuture Scholarship Search
- Fastweb (you can register using a US university’s mailing address)
- IEFA.org
- Peterson’s College Scholarship Search
- Scholarships.com
Make sure you indicate you are an international student if this is an option. Many of these searches will also bring up university-specific scholarships.
Applying for them
External scholarship applications are separate to university applications. They might require essays, competitions and/or interviews.
Some scholarship deadlines are much earlier than university deadlines, and some are much later. Schedule your applications sensibly, and remember you can often apply for as many as possible.
