Study Abroad and Financial Aid
Boston University students are encouraged to study abroad. BU has over 70 study abroad programs in over 15 countries. Nearly half of our students are studying, researching, and interning on five continents!
What if I am attending a Study Abroad Program in Fall 2024
If you are attending a BU Study Abroad program and have completed the study agreement prior to registering, the charges on your account will reflect your Study Abroad program charges. The BU Study Abroad Office works with BU Financial Assistance over the summer to help identify any students who may be attending a study abroad program with a cost less than a standard on-campus BU semester. This might require a change to your financial aid award after your initial award is posted.
How do you know if your award will be impacted by Studying Abroad?
Your financial aid award cannot exceed the total cost of attendance for your study abroad program. You can determine this, as well as see all of the included expenses with your program, by reviewing the budget sheet for your specific program.
Let’s look at two examples:
In the first example, your total financial aid award is $40,000 per semester and you are attending the Italy Milan Bocconi University Exchange:
In this example, the total estimated expenses for this program (the red box at the bottom) is $46,574. Since your award ($40,000) is less than the cost of attendance for this program there will not need to be any change to your award. You can also see that the estimated additional expenses for this program includes housing, meals, and airfare. These estimated expenses are not included in the program charges on your student account ($33,834) and you will need to plan to pay for them separately. Good news, since the award in this example is more than the program charges, you will have a credit available for the difference ($6,166) which you can use towards the additional estimated expenses.
In a second example, you have the same financial aid award ($40,000 per semester), but are instead attending the England London Internship: Arts and Arts Administration:
In this example, since the Total Estimated Expenses ($36,907) are less than your financial aid award ($40,000) your award will need to be reduced as it cannot exceed the total cost of attendance for your program. In this example your award would be reduced to $36,907 for only the semester you are studying abroad. Since your award equals the total cost of attendance for your program it will not only cover the total program charges, but you will also have a refund available to apply to all of the estimated additional expenses.
You can determine if your award will change by looking at your program budget sheet and estimating your award for the upcoming year.
Federal and State Aid – Your eligibility for Federal and State aid may change depending on your recent FAFSAThe Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used to determine eligibility for state and federal grants, scholarships, and loans. The FAFSA can be completed on the Federal Student Aid website. submission and changes to your award may be required to keep federal and state aid within your federal eligibility for financial aid.
Tuition-based Awards – If you are the recipient of a scholarship that covers full-tuition (specifically covers the full tuition charge) such as the Trustee scholarship, your award with be adjusted to cover the new tuition charge of your study abroad program if it is less than standard BU tuition. Tuition Remission will also be adjusted to the new percentage of your program’s tuition.
Generally, study abroad tuition and housing is comparable to on-campus costs in Boston. If you have financial aid, most of it can be used while you’re studying abroad. There are a few exceptions:
- Federal Work-Study: you cannot use federal work study while studying abroad. Your award may be reduced by 50% to reflect the half year eligibility for your on-campus semester.
- Loans and need-based scholarships/grants: if your study abroad cost of attendance is less than the standard cost of attendance for an on-campus semester at BU, these awards may be reduced.
- Presidential Scholarships: these awards will be applied to your study abroad semester charges just as they would be if you were on the Charles River Campus.
- Full-tuition scholarships: (e.g., Menino, Posse, etc.) will be adjusted so that the amount of your scholarship will cover 100 percent of the tuition portion of your program fee. The tuition portion of the program fee varies, depending on the program you attend. It may be equivalent to the Charles River Campus tuition, however in cases where it is less, the scholarship will be adjusted accordingly.
- Trustee Scholarship: Like other full-tuition scholarships, the Trustee Scholarship will be adjusted, if necessary, to cover 100 percent of the tuition portion of your program fee. However, while the Trustee Scholarship covers mandatory fees while attending on the Charles River Campus, it will not cover non-tuition portions of the study abroad program fee.
- External (or non-affiliated as is listed on the FAQ document) Study Abroad Programs: if you are attending a non-affiliated or External program you may not receive a BU scholarship or grant for enrollments in that program. You may use credit-based loans and any federal and state financial aid you qualify for provided a Consortium Agreement has been completed and approved.
When planning to study abroad there are other financial considerations you should know about. Once you apply to a BU study abroad program and are formally admitted the study abroad office will notify BU Financial Assistance.
At that point, your financial aid records will be reviewed and adjustments to your cost of attendance will be made to align with your study abroad costs and any necessary adjustments to your awards will be made. If the cost of attendance for your particular program is less than the costs of studying on the Charles River Campus, your financial aid award may be reduced. If a revision is made to your financial aid, you will receive a revised Financial Aid Award notification.
Connect with Us if you have questions about how studying abroad might impact your financial aid.
