Canadian students studying in the states

[jaguilar]

Hi everyone. I am a Canadian student and I have been accepted to Pacific (waiting for waterloo) and I am getting very stressed out about how I am going to pay for school. I did not have to use student or bank loans for undergrad so I'm not really sure where to start. Does anyone have any advice on where to start looking for funds, or care to share how they paid? Any advice would be much appreciated?

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[Chrissy7]

Do some provinces have funds for students studying out of Canada? I've been looking around and ive come up empty...does anyone know of anything (scholarships, burseries) and how to find it?

 

[KHE]

Hi everyone. I am a Canadian student and I have been accepted to Pacific (waiting for waterloo) and I am getting very stressed out about how I am going to pay for school. I did not have to use student or bank loans for undergrad so I'm not really sure where to start. Does anyone have any advice on where to start looking for funds, or care to share how they paid? Any advice would be much appreciated?

A note to other students who think that they may find themselves in a similar situation...

This is exactly the kind of thing you should be thinking about before you even apply. It's a little late in the game to be worrying about this kind of thing, I would think.

 

[Jay12]

A note to other students who think that they may find themselves in a similar situation...

This is exactly the kind of thing you should be thinking about before you even apply. It's a little late in the game to be worrying about this kind of thing, I would think.

I completely agree with KHE.......you shouldn't really feel that stressed out if you had looked at everything (i.e. tuition costs, etc...) prior to applying.......Anyways.......I'm pretty sure that there are Provincial Loans that you can apply for, and maybe even federal (but I don't believe they give you as much as a provincial loan).....and then there's also student line of credit that you can get from a back...(I'm getting one from RBC).......

 

[coffeebythelake]

Yes, most provinces do. I got mine through OSAP in Ontario.

British Columbia also offers student loans for residents studying abroad.

 

[mtrlOATgal]

For all Canadians going to study in the US:

Provincial and federal loans and bursaries are available. Usually bursaries are not allowed. Call up the responsible bureau and ask for information about applications, required documents and if the institution you are attending is eligible for loans, if not, you may be allowed to appeal that.

CanHelp loans are available but apparently are ill advised due to their over 8% loan fee.

Next choice after provincial and federal loans are to go to the banks.
RBC, possible but they don't seem to loan to students studying outside of Canada.

CIBC, TD and BMO all have line of credits for professional students such as optometry students with 20 000$ max limit per year, need a co-signer, monthly interest payments are required, and if you need more than 20 000$ then you can discuss this with your bank. It is possible. It is important to choose a co-signer who will allow the bank to give you the most loans.

Call the hotlines for the banks, make an appointment with the agent and I suggest to apply in person and not online or over the phone.

There may also be other banks but they don't seem to loan to students not attending institutions in Canada or their own home province.

Scholarships, bursaries and workstudy can help a bit as well.

 

[Oilersfan69]

Hey guys,

So the website for the federal student loans is www.canlearn.ca

From there you can get links to the provincial websites.

Can anyone from Alberta who is currently or will be attending schools in the states give advice on which bank has the most competitive rates and is the best one to go to?

 

[Squint]

For Alberta, the most they gave last year was $13,000 - federal and provincial portions for studying in the U.S.

Hey guys,

So the website for the federal student loans is www.canlearn.ca

From there you can get links to the provincial websites.

Can anyone from Alberta who is currently or will be attending schools in the states give advice on which bank has the most competitive rates and is the best one to go to?

 

[Oilersfan69]

Wow only $13,000 total from Alberta and Canada student loans? So I assume you also borrowed from 2 banks seeing as the max they can give is $20,000/yr?

 

[mtrlOATgal]

most ppl would go with a provincial loan and two banks.
National Bank does seem to give a good deal but it doesn't work for QC students since they dont give it to students not studying in the province. Have to be careful about that.

BMO seems to have a lower interest rate. But it seems to depend on bank. The had prime + .5%

 

[Chrissy7]

mtrlOATgal..what do u mean by workstudy? working during school...i heard its tough to get a job in the states as a canadian on a student visa....is this true?​

 

[jefguth]

mtrlOATgal..what do u mean by workstudy? working during school...i heard its tough to get a job in the states as a canadian on a student visa....is this true?​

workstudy is work done at your school. There are no restictions for on campus employment with your visa. The only limit is available funding for foreign work study.

 

[mtrlOATgal]

I am not absolutely certain about this but I did happen to ask Pacific and SUNY about this. SUNY seemed to really know about this and told me that as international students w student visas we are only allowed to work a certain number of hours per week within the school year and on school property. There are a lot of restrictions, it can and has been done, but unless you have the discipline and time it is not usually recommended for you to do workstudy. But then again you can always study while working at the library, right?

You have to ask the people working with visas at the school you will be attending because some schools were not sure if this would affect your application to do a residency in the US later on. Residency= work hours...

 

[ML1983]

BMO and CIBC give out loans. Max. $80,000 CDN from each bank with co-signer, but they are not gonna take the fall if you can't pay for it. It's kinda weird, but ask them for the professional loan.

 

[Linga23]

So far in my initial search: TD, and BMO are good for Cdn students studying in the US. I called CIBC and they said it has to be a Canadian university. I was not happy since I thought my bank was the best Oh well.
Anyone else know of others?

 

[Jay12]

RBC also helps out Canadian students going to the states