Financing
Let UrbanBuddy help you finance your travel or study abroad experience!
We know any international experience is expensive but we promise it will be worth every penny! We have assembled a number of traditional and creative ways to save cash and finance your travel or study abroad experience.
Getting Started.
Your first step is to identify the estimated cost of your travel or study abroad experience. Next, subtract any existing savings, financial aid or surplus loans you have access too. This can include aid from Pell grants, Stafford loans, PLUS loans, state need-based aid, merit scholarships, institutional aid, academic scholarships, and grants provided directly by your college or university. Below are a number of traditional and creative ways to help make up any difference between your budget and your savings, academic loans, and scholarships.
Savings / Pre-planning.
With a little pre-planning you can fund your travel or study abroad experience by saving ahead of time. The key is time and planning. We recommend using a high interest savings account to stash your cash away. Not only is this a safe way to save but it will provide you with a much better interest rate than a traditional savings or checking account. There are a number of banks that will offer accounts to meet your savings needs but we recommend working with HSBC or Bank of America. Both have excellent interest rates and their banks are located in almost all major cities in the world, this will come in very handy during your travels.
Click here to read more about high interest savings accounts!
Check out other ways to save money abroad.
Private Student Loans.
Private student loans are a great way to raise money for your study abroad. Depending on the individual loan, you may see either fixed or variable interest rate loans. A fixed interest loan means the interest rate remains consistent throughout the term of the loan, while a variable interest rate loan may move up or down. The application process for private student loans is easy and popular choice for both student and parents. We work with Simple Tuition, they have partnered with a number of great banks and offer very competitive interest rates and an easy to navigate website!
Student Scholarships.
Scholarships are a great way to access free money to make your education or study abroad more affordable. And don't worry, there are scholarship opportunities for everyone! Whether you are a guy, girl, a minority, intelligent, creative, or spontaneous, we promise there is something for you. We recommend students start their scholarship search with FastWest. FastWeb is one the Internet's leading scholarship search tools recommended by thousands of other student and study abroad resources. Their website and search tools are are easy to navigate and give you access to over a million student scholarships!
Click here to start your scholarship application today!
Personal Loans & Credit Cards.
For quick cash, emergencies, or to make up a small deficit in your budget try looking into personal loans or credit cards. If you do your homework you can find a credit card that will allow you to carry a balance free for 6-months to a year and they may even throw in a free flight or other incentives depending on the card. Be careful with this option, credit can carry very high interest rates and sometimes-large penalties. For more information on personal loans and various lender options have a look at LendingTree.com. Not only is their website full of good information but they will also list a number of great lenders.
Click here to read more from Lendingtree.com!
Home Equity Loans.
For some students and parents this can be an attractive way to gain access to cash for your travel or study abroad experience. Home equity loans allow you to borrow money against the equity in your home. The interest rate for a home equity loan can be much less than personal loans, credit cards, and sometimes even student loans. There are lots of banks offering home equity loans which means lots of competition. The more competition there is for you the better great rates, and an easy application process! Again, we recommend visiting LendingTree.com for more information on this lending option. They can provide great information on the Home Equity Loan Process and will give you a number of competitive banks to choose from.