MS. BROOKE SPELMAN: Good morning and good evening to our viewers joining us from around the world.
My name is Brooke Spelman, and I represent EducationUSA and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC. Today’s Facebook Live is about financing your studies
in the United States or step two of the EducationUSA five steps to U.S. study.
Our goal for today is to give you advice and tips on the different ways international students can
finance their education at a U.S. college or university. Our hope is that with this information,
international students like you will find the U.S. university or college that best fits your financial budget and needs.
As you all know, our EducationUSA network consists of over 550 trained advisors
in 180 countries and territories around the world, offering free advising services to help you plan your education
in the United States. During this program, our team will be taking and answering
live questions from you, our viewers, so at any time during this program, please feel free to post your questions
in the comment box located in the comments section below.
OK, let’s get started. First off, I would like to introduce our speakers, who
collectively have a lot of information to share about financing studies in the United States.
Joining us virtually is Jacqueline Vogl, the senior international officer at the State University
of New York college in Plattsburgh, New York, where she manages all functions within the college related to international recruitment
and emissions. Welcome, Jackie, and thank you for being with us today. MS. JACQUELINE VOGL: Thank you very much for having
me, and good morning. MS. SPELMAN: Good morning. Next, I’d like to introduce Christine Kremer the director
of international graduate admission at the University of Dayton in Ohio, responsible for assisting
international students interested in studying in the United States. Christine is here with us in the studio.
Welcome, Christine. MS. CHRISTINE KREMER: Good morning. MS. SPELMAN: We’re very excited to have you here today. MS. KREMER: It’s a pleasure to be here.
Thank you for having me, Brooke. MS. SPELMAN: Thank you. Also joining us virtually is Ojima Abraham.
Ojima is from Abuja, Nigeria, and is a freshman international student at Franklin & Marshall College
in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Hi, Ojima. Thanks for joining us today. MR. OJIMA ABRAHAM: Hi. Thank you so much for having me.
I am so excited to be joining you today. MS. SPELMAN: Excellent. So let’s get started with our discussion.
So Christine, I’d like to start with you and ask you to tell us a little bit about what students should
keep in mind when thinking about financing a U.S. education. And could you give us an overview
of what’s included in sort of the cost of attendance at a U.S. institution? MS. KREMER: Absolutely.
So once a student has selected their university or college that they’re interested for their academic program,
it’s very important to understand the cost of attendance as well as where they’re choosing to live in the United States,
the cost of living. The cost of attendance will be made up
of both billable and those expenses which are not billable from the university, so
tuition and fees. A good question for students to ask– are the fees within the tuition that they’re being billed,
or will they be charged additional fees? That’s a question we hear all the time from students.
So different universities handle the tuition and fee portion differently. MS. SPELMAN: And what would those fees be, for example?
MS. KREMER: So fees could be for the rec center, the recreation center, for taking labs, use of the library,
parking, so various on-campus fees.
MS. SPELMAN: And those would be billable? MS. KREMER: They could be. So some universities wrap those into the tuition
so that a student understands the cost all four years. And there are other universities that
will charge the specific fee based on what a student’s major and interest lie. MS. SPELMAN: Right, right, OK.
MS. KREMER: In addition to the tuition and fees, there are the living expenses, so housing and meals.