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Maybe someone can explain this. I have met several "students" from various countries that have received
full scholarships including housing and tuition in Universities in the US. Almost all of those students I have
spoken to plan to return to their country of origin after graduation. How does this work? I'm asking
because I could understand this if the students were required to stay in the US, let's say for a few years,
but they are not. There are so many US students with high academic honors who have had to take out
huge loans in order to graduate from college. I don't want to sound nasty but I just don't understand
how this benefits America, American students or American taxpayers.
Maybe someone can explain this. I have met several "students" from various countries that have received
full scholarships including housing and tuition in Universities in the US. Almost all of those students I have
spoken to plan to return to their country of origin after graduation. How does this work? I'm asking
because I could understand this if the students were required to stay in the US, let's say for a few years,
but they are not. There are so many US students with high academic honors who have had to take out
huge loans in order to graduate from college. I don't want to sound nasty but I just don't understand
how this benefits America, American students or American taxpayers.
Why did you put students in quotation marks?
Anyways, it is not like there is one giant pool of scholarship money. Most scholarships are designed for a specific demographic with different motivations behind them. Some are purely philanthropic, wanting to give an opportunity to a student that might not have access to such an opportunity otherwise. Some are to promote the organization/institution on the global level and/or to help develop ties with a particular country. And so on. Then, of course, there is the reality that the school receives 100% of the tuition paid-in-full which should benefit American tax-payers since these students are not utilizing subsidies to off-set their tuition. Also, scholarships generally tend to come from private sources, so why does it matter?
These students are not taking away money from "worthy" Americans being as this money was not for American students to begin with. Not to mention that the sheer number of scholarships that are only available to American students vs. the handful that are for foreign students is staggering. It is like Amazon dot com accusing the corner store of stealing business.
It is very common in engineering and science departments for GRADUATE students coming from outside the US to get assistantships (for teaching or research). These assistantships pay tuition and a stipend. They are pay for work- teaching or research. Typically departments prefer to hire qualified US students and most of the time there are not enough.
And a great many of these students DO stay in the US upon graduation, even though it is not easy to do so. Go to Silicon Valley or another tech area and look around. You will see the entire world represented.
Maybe someone can explain this. I have met several "students" from various countries that have received
full scholarships including housing and tuition in Universities in the US.
Many of those scholarships are paid by their home country, not the university they attend.
Saudis are great for that, among others.
I still am looking for more information. I have personally spoke to many students. They all attended public universities
and were very forthright, talking about the free housing and tuition they received from the university. None of them
or their families abroad had to contribute any money. They also said that after they graduated (and some went on to
get a Masters degree the same way) they were going to go back to their country to work. Some would tell me they
were going to run the family company others said they would pursue a particular career there.
I am not talking about foreign students who's parents paid for them to receive an education in the US nor am I targeting any
specific country, I am well aware of students who have received assistantships and work at the university, that was not
the reason for my question.
I posted this question because I know many American students who were more than qualified but could not afford
college (great sat scores, grades etc..). Maybe someone who works in a university can explain this further,
Last edited by key4lp; 02-21-2013 at 05:50 AM..
Reason: additional comment
Many of those scholarships are paid by their home country, not the university they attend.
Saudis are great for that, among others.
I agree.
I believe that for most foreign students the money is paid by organizations in their home country not by the US University. Also, most of the time the students are required to return to their home country to work, at least for a certain number of years.
As noted above, a significant number of foreign students have their entire bill paid for by their home government. They are expected to get a good education and return home with it. A number of middle eastern students come from very wealthy families and their family pays the bill. So, when you say 'scholarship.' the question is what kind of scholarship and who is paying for it. A Chinese student can tell you they are here on a scholarship because they are on a scholarship from their home country in which the Chinese gov't is paying 100% of the freight.
Last edited by joe from dayton; 02-21-2013 at 07:54 AM..
I can see what you are saying. My son is a college student and he receives some grant and scholarship money, but much of the cost he has to contribute himself, or take out loans.
I know that most colleges like to have a good cross section from across the world, because of the cultural exchange that is afforded to the American students there - you learn so much more about different cultures and different parts of the world by interacting with people from there...more so than what you can ever learn from just reading and studying. This too can be an educational experience all it's own. (And it also affords the students from other countries
a chance to experience our culture and country.) So, yes it is a benefit to both parties to meet with people who are from diverse backgrounds and cultures, and can add much insight.
My son studies Engineering in College, and there are as many or more International students at his University than American ones, he tells me. But then again, you can't force people to take a Major they are not interested in taking.
Quote:
Anyways, it is not like there is one giant pool of scholarship money. Most scholarships are designed for a specific demographic with different motivations behind them. Some are purely philanthropic, wanting to give an opportunity to a student that might not have access to such an opportunity otherwise. Some are to promote the organization/institution on the global level and/or to help develop ties with a particular country. And so on. Then, of course, there is the reality that the school receives 100% of the tuition paid-in-full which should benefit American tax-payers since these students are not utilizing subsidies to off-set their tuition. Also, scholarships generally tend to come from private sources, so why does it matter?
These students are not taking away money from "worthy" Americans being as this money was not for American students to begin with. Not to mention that the sheer number of scholarships that are only available to American students vs. the handful that are for foreign students is staggering. It is like Amazon dot com accusing the corner store of stealing business.
I also think K-luv makes an excellent point there.
I believe that for most foreign students the money is paid by organizations in their home country not by the US University. Also, most of the time the students are required to return to their home country to work, at least for a certain number of years.
Most, but not all. I know there is still a lot of anger in the North Dakota higher education circles, as the state was paying for hundreds of foreign students to get degrees. These were not working scholarships either. It is disgusting that our government at any level would be spending taxes dollars to train citizens of another country.
Of course I agree that colleges and universities should have a diverse cultural mix. Some of the posts give a few explanations.
So I'm going to give an example of some foreign students who I have talked to and just listened to them as they told me
about their free education in the US. Here's one example: There was a very nice girl from abroad who I was talking to at
a university while I was taking a workshop. She told me, voluntarily, that she never had to pay for tuition or room and board
because the university was paying for it. She received her bachelor's degree in economics and was finishing her Master's
also. Now this was a public university in the Midwest. She told me that after she finished her Master's degree, she would
be returning home to help run her father's large business.
I live in a college town so I am aware that China (as an example) does send many students here to receive an education.
Again, I am just curious to the original post and question as presented in the example above.
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