Financing Your Trip Abroad

International travel is never cheap, but there are many ways to finance an internship abroad if you are willing to do some leg work…and paper work.

Before you think about how to finance, you should take a good look at exactly what the costs are going to be. These costs usually fall into the following categories:

  • Travel (airfare)
  • Lodging (usually determined by program/school)
  • Visas (can be anywhere from $0 to $500)
  • Spending Money (offset by paying internships)
  • Recreational Travel (weekend trips to explore your new surroundings)

The actual costs associated with each of these categories will vary greatly depending on where you are traveling and how long. It is a good idea to create a budget sheet using the highest possible numbers in order to determine what your budget will be. Once you have that number in place, you can compare it to your current tuition payments and begin to determine what your funding sources will be.
If you are not going as part of your college or university experience, you should take this opportunity to assess you savings, as well as loan options.

While grants and scholarships for time abroad are competitive, there are a number of resources available. Several different websites offer comprehensive listings of scholarship and grant opportunities related to study abroad. Don’t overlook the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, which is one of the premier fellowships for teach and research opportunities abroad. In addition, some internship programs offer a small number of scholarships to interns who can prove financial need.

There are many wonderful resources for those looking to live and work abroad, and it’s not hard to find them on the Internet.

 

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