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The Open Doors report was published by the Institute of International Education (IIE). The report is based on a survey by IIE of nearly 2,800 accredited U.S. educational institutions. The following are the key findings from the report:

Most popular fields of study for international students: business and management (20 percent of total), engineering (17 percent) and physical and life sciences (9 percent), social sciences (9 percent), mathematics and computer sciences (8 percent)

Institutions with the highest number of international student enrollment: University of Southern California in Los Angeles (7,115), New York University (6,404), Columbia University in New York, New York (6,297), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (5,933), Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana (5,772); University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan (5,748); the University of California, Los Angeles (5,557); the University of Texas at Austin (5,550); Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts (4,948); Boston University (4,789); and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (4,610).

Countries that sent the most number of students to the US: India (94,563), China (81,127), South Korea (69,124), Japan (33,974), Canada (29,051), Taiwan (29,001), Mexico (14,837), Turkey (12,030), Saudi Arabia (9,873), Thailand (9,004), Nepal (8,936), Germany (8,907).

States with the most number of international students: California (84,800), New York (69,844), Texas (51,824), Massachusetts (31,817), Illinois (28,804), Florida (26,739), Pennsylvania (26,090), Michigan (22,857), Ohio (19,343), and Indiana (15,548).

So what are you waiting for? Have no fear and apply for your F1 student visa to the United States.

One condition of the F1 visa is that you cannot be away from classes for more than 5 months at a time. Therefore, if you are suspended from college even for a semester, you will lose you F1 visa status. Your visa will be invalidated even if your visa has not expired. You may apply for reinstatement of your F1 status but that is fodder for another post.

So what can you do if you are suspended from college due to poor grades? The easiest thing to do would be to get admission into a community college. Community colleges are two year institutions that offer Associate Degrees. The advantages of community colleges are that they are inexpensive, easy to get into, and their credits are transferable to most four year colleges. Get into a community college for a semester or two, take some easy classes, study hard, get your grades up and then apply for admission back into your original college. This way you will have maintained your F1 visa status while also saving some money by studying at a community college. If you need to take this path, make sure you do a few things before hand. If you know your GPA is going to fall below the minimum and there is a good chance of you getting suspended, start looking at community colleges in your local area and apply for admission to the one you like. Don’t wait for your college to send you the suspension letter, because by that time the new semester may already have begun and it might be too late to get admission to any community colleges, thus leaving you out of status and with no other option but to start packing your bags. As soon as grades are released, find out from the school if you have been suspended. If so, transfer your I20 to the community college as soon as possible.

Do you know of anything else that international students can do if they are suspended from their college? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Let’s face it, graduate school is expensive. And if you are an international student, you don’t have the luxury to take time off to work and save money for school. You have to finish your degree in one go. If you do not have a fellowship and do not have the financial resources to pay for your postgraduate studies, a Graduate Teaching Assistantship might come in handy.

A Teaching Assistant (T.A) helps out the professor by grading undergraduate papers, delivering lectures, holding office hours and conducting lab sessions. A full time Teaching Assistant is expected to work 20 hours per week and a part time Teaching Assistant works 10 hours per week. Teaching Assistants can sometimes also help out professors with their research or special projects.

Teaching Assistants get their tuition waived for up to 8 credits, every semester for which they are a T.A. They also get an annual stipend anywhere from $6500 to $15000. Teaching Assistantship positions are not only limited to academia. A Graduate Assistantship position with Residential Life could be extremely beneficial to international students financially. The student would work as a Hall Director or Assistant Hall Director for a campus dorm. This position would have the benefit of free room and board in addition to free tuition and stipend. Teaching Assistantships allow international students to gain valuable work experience. They also foster relationships with professors that can be later used to get job referrals.

To get a job as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, students need to be first admitted to the university. Available positions are posted on the university’s website and on departmental bulletin boards. All positions usually fill up within a couple weeks of the start of the semester. Apply as early as possible to increase your chances of getting the job. Talk to your professors and let them know that you are interested in a T.A. position. Don’t just apply for the job and wait to hear back from them. Be proactive. Find out the name of the person responsible for hiring and send them a short email stating that you have applied for the position and are very interested in the job. Bigger universities usually have a lot of T.A. positions, so your chances will be more if you are enrolled at a big university.

Teaching Assistantships offer a lot of rewards for little work. They take out the financial worry for international graduate students. What is your opinion on Teaching Assistantships? Please comment.

America is a country that runs on credits. Almost everyone here has got a credit card. As an international college student, you will no doubt receive plenty of offers for credit cards in the mail and on the phone. These offers will be tempting and in some point in time you might decide to sign up for one. However, before you rush in to get that piece of plastic (no pun intended), there are certain things that you should know. Below are 5 tips on credit cards for international students.

Picture By: SqueakyMarmot

1. Don’t get a credit card

This is probably the most important thing that I can tell you about credit cards for international students. As a student you probably will have no need for a credit card. Get a check card instead. A check card works similar to a credit card, but when you use a check card, you are actually using money from your bank account, thus spending money that you have. When you use a credit card, you are spending money that you do not have. You will have to pay the balance on your credit card by the end of the month or else pay an interest on the balance. It is also easy to spend more while using a credit card because it is just so tempting to swipe that card and buy on impulse. Believe me, I know…ahem…moving on

2. Get a card with a low interest rate

If you are still reading this, I guess you’ve made up your mind. So if you must get a credit card, the first thing to look at is the interest rate. Get a credit card with a low interest rate. Most credit cards for college students come with high interest rates, since college students do not have established lines of credit. So an annual percentage rate (APR) under 12% is considered good for international college students. A 12% APR means that you would be paying interest at 12% per year. Anything above 16% is too high.

3. Free is always good (or at least in this case)

Sign up for a credit card that has no fees associated with it. Some credit card companies will charge you an annual fee, account set up fee, monthly fee, maintenance fee and every other kind of fee that they can think of. My advice is to stay away from these kinds of credit cards. There are plenty of credit card companies that offer cards with absolutely no charges other than the interest on the balance. These are the credit cards that you should consider.

4. Pay your balance on time

Try to pay off your credit card balance every month. Even if you cannot pay the entire balance, make sure that you make minimum payment and do it on time. Almost all credit cards will charge you a $29 or more fee every time that you are late with a payment. Make your payments late two or more times and your interest rate will go through the roof. This will also be detrimental to your credit score. Therefore, it is extremely important that you make your payments on time, every time.

5. Do not exceed your limit, take cash advances or write credit card checks

Your credit card comes with a spending limit. Do not exceed this limit. Credit card companies charge a fee every time you exceed this limit. And did I mention that it is bad for your credit score.

Credit cards will allow you to withdraw money just like you would do with your checking account at the bank. But you will pay dearly if you decide to withdraw money from your credit card account. These kinds of loans have a much higher interest rate than using your credit card to buy something.

Sometimes, your credit card company will send you checks that you can write against your credit card account. Do not use these checks as they also have a higher interest rate than just using your credit card normally.

That is all the advice that I can give you about using credit cards in the United States as an international student. Again, the best thing to do would be to stay away from credit cards and use your bank check card instead. But if you do decide to get a credit card, use it wisely and spend only as much as you can afford to pay back.

Do you have a story or advice about credit cards that you would like to share with our readers? What is your opinion about the easy access of credit to college students in the United States? Please add your comments below.

It is a condition of the F1 visa that international students cannot accept employment while they are on a student visa in the United States. However, it is quite expensive for international students to study in the USA and it is not always possible for their parents to cover the full costs of education and living expenses. There are a number of ways that international students can work and make some money legally to help cover some costs of their US college education.

On Campus Employment

This is the most common and easiest method for international students to earn money. Big schools usually have a lot of on campus jobs which are mostly filled by international students. This is the easiest method because international students do not need to fill out any special paperwork or get any authorization to work on campus. They are legally allowed to work 20 hours per week during semesters and 40 hours per week during breaks in on campus jobs. All they need to work on campus is a Social Security Number (SSN). International students can get the SSN at their local Social Security office. Click here to read my article on getting on campus jobs.

Work Permit for Economic Hardship

This is probably the least known method of how international students can work while they are studying in the USA. This method allows for international students to work legally off campus at any job while they are a full time student. This off campus employment authorization is meant to help international students that face unforeseen financial difficulty. An unforeseen financial difficulty may be the death of a sponsor, political instability, natural disaster, substantial fluctuations in currency exchange rates, etc. To be eligible to apply for this work permit from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) international students must be on F1 status for one full year and must be able to prove their unforeseen financial difficulty. The Economic Hardship Employment permit is given for one year and must be renewed each subsequent year. It becomes invalid if the student switches school.

Curricular Practical Training (CPT)

International students can get a work permit from USCIS to work in a job related to their program of study. This is an internship and international students can take advantage of this opportunity any time after they have been in full time status for one full year and before the end of their program of study. The internship must be in a field related to the field of study. Students in English language programs are not eligible for CPT. Another condition for the CPT is that it must provide credits that will be counted towards graduation. Students on CPT can work full time during the summer. Awarding of CPT work permits during semesters depends on the policy of the school the student is enrolled in. To be granted a CPT work permit, the student does not need to apply directly to USCIS. Rather, this permit is granted by the school itself.

Optional Practical Training (OPT)

International students have the option of working full time for 12 months after graduation. Again, as in the CPT, the job during OPT has to be in a field directly related to the students field of study. As the name suggests, the job during OPT is to give international students practical training in their area of study before they go back to their home country. UCIS recently made major changes to the OPT program. Some of these changes are:

• Extension of OPT to 29 months for students in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) majors
• Additional reporting requirements of address change and job change
• Students cannot be unemployed more than 90 days while they are on OPT

The following are the STEM majors:

• Engineering
• Engineering Technologies
• Biological and Biomedical Sciences
• Mathematics and Statistics
• Military Technologies
• Physical Sciences
• Science Technologies
• Medical Scientist

These are the all the ways international students can work in the United States while maintaining their status as F1 visa students. If you know of any other methods that might help international students gain employment legally, then please add it to the comments area.

Admission to highly ranked colleges in the USA is very competitive. This can get even more competitive for international students when they are seeking scholarships from the college to fund their studies. International students can do a few things while they are in high school to increase their chances of admission to a US college with scholarship.

Do Well in Academics

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Students must do well in academics to have a shot at getting into the top ranked schools. Grades in high school are very important and are looked at very closely during the admission process.

Take Challenging Classes

Admission counsellors like to see that you took challenging classes in high school. Sign up for advanced classes even if they are optional for you in high school. If you are taking General Math, also take Advanced Math. This will give the impression that you are an above average student and like to go above and beyond what is required. It is not enough to just take advanced classes but one must also do well in those classes.

Take the SAT and TOEFL

Take the SAT and TOEFL and score high on these tests. High scores on these tests can set you apart from other students seeking admission. Many colleges use the SAT score as a criteria for both admission and scholarship decisions. A high score on the TOEFL can also be used to waive some English as a Second Language (ESL) classes that many colleges make mandatory for their international students to take in their first semester.

Participate in Extracurricular Activities

Almost every admission application to a US college will ask you to list your extracurricular activities. A lot of weight is given to an application that shows student involvement in extracurricular activities. Colleges want to admit students that do well in school but who are also active in their communities. So get out there and do something. Get involved in clubs, organizations, do voluntary work, play sports, help in your local soup kitchen. Take on responsibility and leadership roles whenever you can. Showing that you have leadership experience can give a tremendous boost to your admission and scholarship application.

Take the SAT II Subject Tests

Although many colleges do not require the SAT subject tests anymore, it does not hurt to take these tests as it will set you apart from the other applicants. Good scores on these tests will help in getting scholarships.

Next start hunting for a job. Most on campus jobs are usually in dining services as dishwashers and food preparers. Go to the offices of the company that manages your school’s dining services and fill out an application form. Similarly, go to the Residential Life office, public safety, campus recreation and the library and submit forms. Remember to submit your resume along side, even if they don’t require one. The school Student Union should also hires a lot of students.

The trick to getting a job is persistence or your application will gather dust. Speak to the supervisor in charge of hiring. Follow up by email, phone or in person once you have submitted your application. I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep in touch with the people who are hiring. This is because often the number of applications is far more than the number of open positions. Since campus jobs require little skill, the thing employers are looking for most is enthusiasm. Show them that you really want the job.

On campus jobs usually pay $7.50/hr but this varies among different states.

If you absolutely need an on campus job while you are going to college, my suggestion is to apply for admission to bigger state universities. This is because bigger universities will have more job positions and therefore more job opportunities for international students. Smaller colleges have less job openings and those usually fill up with American students on federal work study grants. The trick to finding out whether a particular college is “international student friendly” is to look at their international student enrollment. For example, Saint Cloud State University has almost 1000 international students and the number keeps increasing every year. Click here to read the article on Saint Cloud State University.

If you can get a job as a Residential Advisor/Community Advisor, then the school will probably give you free room and board and a little bit of money. Residential advisors are responsible for students who live on their floor. However, you can only get this job once you have studied at the college for some time and have experience of on campus living.

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Book Exchange
Most colleges arrange book exchange programs during the first week of every semester. Students take in their used textbooks from their previous semester, set a price and submit it to the book exchange for sale. These are bought by other students who require the books. Prices set by students are much lower than what the campus bookstore charges and you can usually get all your books from the book exchange. Be sure to visit multiple times if you are unable find the book you need because books are sporadically submitted for sale all throughout the program.

Online
Another good place to by your textbooks is online. There are multiple websites that sell textbooks. The original sellers are mostly students and the website acts as an intermediary. Half.com has by far been the best website that I have used to buy my textbooks. They have superior customer service and delivery has always been prompt. You should be aware though that books take at least 5 days to arrive in the mail and therefore you should order in plenty of time before classes start.

Bulletin boards
Check the bulletin boards at your department. Students often advertise there to sell their books.

Older Editions
Although not many people recommend this, I think buying older edition textbooks are a very good way to save money. American publishers come out with newer editions of textbooks almost every year without essentially changing much in the way of content. Believe it or not, I have bought older edition textbooks for pennies and saved myself a fortune. I have had not trouble following in class. The most that change is page numbers and the cover of the book. Be sure not to go more than one edition older than the current edition and you should be fine. Again, a very good place to buy older edition textbooks is online at www.half.com.

The prices at campus bookstores are exorbitant to say the least. Try and avoid the bookstore if you can. If you want a job there, that’s another story though.

A handful of these colleges (Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Amherst, etc.) offering need based financial aid to international students are also need blind in their admission decision. This means that your capacity to pay for your education will not factor in the admission decision because these universities have a need blind admission policy. Your chances for admission will remain the same whether you apply for aid or not. Basically if you can get in, the expenses will be taken care of. As you can imagine, the universities and colleges offering need based financial aid to international students is limited and the competition is extremely intense. International students who usually get these scholarships are well accomplished in academics and extracurricular activities. Obtaining a seat in any one of these U.S. colleges will get you through college without any financial worries.

Colleges that offer need based financial aid to international students are:

Amherst College

Brown University

California Institute of Technology

Claremont McKenna College

Columbia University

Cornell University

Dartmouth College

Duke University

Georgetown University

Grinnell College

Harvard University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Northwestern University

Pomona College

Princeton University

Rice University

Stanford University

University of Chicago

University of Pennsylvania

University of Richmond

Vassar College

Wellesley College

Williams College

Yale University

This may not be a comprehensive list of all the colleges offering need based financial aid to international students. If you know of other schools that offer similar financial aid, please add it to the comments section.