Tuition and Financial Aid
An important factor in any international student's decision on studying in the US is cost. As an F or J visa applicant, you will need to prove that you have the funding to cover one full year of education at St. Ambrose, including all personal expenses. Therefore, it's important to know what those costs are, and what scholarships or other assistance may be available to you.
See our table of costs for the 2013-2014 year.
All students, international and domestic, are automatically considered for aid based on prior academic record. There is no need to complete an additional application form. The scholarship is based on your grade point average and your ACT, SAT, TOEFL, or IELTS score. Academic aid can assist significantly with the cost of tuition.
Sports teams and the art and theater departments can provide some additional aid, which is added on top of your academic aid. The International Student Services Office is happy to provide more information on this, if you have questions about a particular sport or art or theater.
While we generally do not offer financial aid at the graduate level, there are opportunities for graduate assistantships in the various graduate departments. Assistantships may involve research or day-to-day work in your academic department or another department on campus. Graduate Assistantships provide you with free tuition for a certain number of your courses. The benefit varies depending on the position.
Visit the graduate assistantships page of the Graduate Studies website to learn more about possible assistantships.
Loans for your education can be quite difficult to obtain in the US. Generally, US-based educational loans are only available if you have a US citizen that will share the responsibility of the loan with you (known as co-signing).
As an F or J visa holder, you are entitled to work for up to 20 hours per week on campus during the academic year, and full time during breaks. Generally, international students find campus jobs in our food service or campus security. Some other positions may also be available. International students are only eligible for "non-work study jobs," which are those that are not subsidized by the government.
Working on campus can assist in a small way towards your total costs of education. For the 2011-2012 academic year, we estimate that working on campus can contribute up to $3,700 towards your total costs.
If you are interested in working on campus, it is important to enquire about non-work study jobs at our Career Center. It will also be necessary to apply for a Social Security Number. You won't be able to start working until you have this.
You will receive information about campus employment and meet a representative from the Career Center at Orientation.
A very helpful resource in planning your education in the US is your local Education USA advising center. Education USA centers are affiliated with the US State Department and assist students with an objective and comprehensive overview of the US educational system, admission process, timeline, financial aid, and visa applications. They are your best local source for information on scholarships for study in the US.
Find the advising center closest to you at the Education USA website.
The Office of Student Accounts handles billing. Students are billed for each academic term, once in August and once in January. There are a number of ways to pay your bill, so please visit their website to see what method will work best for you.
