International students face a funding gap: most government student loan schemes are restricted to domestic students. This article covers the main funding sources available to international students.
Government Loan Schemes
US Federal Student Aid: Available to US citizens and eligible non-citizens studying at foreign institutions participating in the Direct Loan programme.
UK Student Finance: Available to UK nationals and certain EU/settled status holders. Not available for international students.
Australian HELP: Available to Australian citizens and certain permanent residents. International students are not eligible.
Bottom line: if you’re an international student, you generally cannot access the host country’s government loan scheme.
Private Education Loans
Prodigy Finance: Loans for international postgraduate students at top business, engineering, law, and public policy schools. No co-signer required. Variable APR typically 7–12%.
MPOWER Financing: Loans for international students at approved US and Canadian universities. No co-signer required. Fixed rates, typically 12–15%.
Lendwise: UK-focused, for postgraduate students. Requires UK-domiciled guarantor in some cases.
Scholarship Search
Key databases:
- Studyportals Scholarship Search (free, comprehensive)
- Scholars4Dev (development-focused scholarships)
- University-specific scholarship pages (most under-utilised resource)
Most scholarship money is university-administered, not from external foundations. Searching individual university websites yields more results than generic scholarship databases.
Working While Studying
- Australia: 48 per fortnight · Unlimited
- UK: 20 per week (degree level) · Full-time permitted
- US: 20 per week (on-campus) · Full-time permitted
- Canada: 20 per week (off-campus) · Full-time permitted
- Germany: 120 full days or 240 half days/year · —
Working can offset 30–60% of living costs in most destinations but will not cover tuition. It should be supplementary, not primary funding.