The International Student Blog

As we head into the new year, we are excited to announce important enhancements to our International Student Facebook and Twitter accounts! Not only has our number of fans continue to grow, International Student’s Facebook fan page and Twitter handle will now be the new social media hub for our family of international student websites. Instead of having to fan or follow us across multiple accounts and sites – we now offer international students one convenient source for all the very latest social media action.

The sites that we are integrating into one are:

InternationalStudent.com - our main site offers information about studying abroad, including useful advice pages for studying in the USA, UK and Australia along with our dedicated study abroad center for US students who want to travel abroad.

InternationalStudentInsurance.com – finding the correct health and travel insurance plan is often overlooked by most students, but an essential part of any travel or study experience. International Student Insurance offer low cost, comprehensive plans that could save you up to $700 when compared to your schools insurance plan!

InternationalStudentLoans.com – funding your education abroad experience is the most challenging for many students. International Student Loan provides students with a unique loan comparison tool which shows you loans that fits your specific situation, and its designed just for international students.

ESLdirectory.com – locating an english language school (ESL) is the first step for many international students. The ESL Directory is where you can find schools from around the world dedicated to teaching and improving your English language skills.

Whether you are looking for information about which University you should apply for, where to find scholarships, what health insurance plan will save you the most money, how to find a loan to finance your study abroad… with this integration we will be able have a social community where students from around the world can talk about and find information about anything relating to international education.

For most of our fans – the integration will be seamless if you currently fan or follow us on our main international student Facebook and Twitter account. However if you are a follower of one of our other sites, please join us today and move across – over time we will be closing down the other account.

Fan us and follow us today:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/internationalstudent

Twitter: https://twitter.com/intstudent

One question that is always asked when I open the International Student Mailbag each day is “How can I apply for an international student loan?” or “How do I go about getting funding for my time abroad?”. So, I thought I would dedicate a blog post to give a brief overview of who is eligible for an international student loan and how you can apply for one.

The International Student Loan is available to any international student who wants to study at one of the approved schools in the USA or Canada. The approved schools list is also available online so you can check to see if your school is part of the program.

To apply for the loan program, you will need to have a cosigner to complete the application. Your cosigner must either be a US Citizen or permanent resident for at least the last 2 years. Once you have that you can apply for the program and the best way to do is either online (where you can walk through the application step by step) or you can phone our customer support team who will go through the application over the phone.

If you have all the information with you when you apply, and your cosigner has a good credit history you can receive your funds in as little as 5 business days – and even get a preliminary approval in 15 minutes.

Of course, there are many students who do not have a cosigner, and unfortunately without a cosigner the loan program is not available to you. However, there are many other resources and means to obtain funding – for example there are many international scholarships around that providing funding for students all over the world, plus you should get out the international financial aid blog which has updated listing of financial aid information.

If you have any other resources or comments about funding, post them below.

As you head back to school there are always things that you put off doing, or simply forget about entirely – well now you can do them last minute and we have some great resources for you….

International Student Loans: Student loans for international students studying in the US or Canada, and for US students abroad. Apply online for up to $30,000 per year.
International Student Insurance: Student Secure is comprehensive health and travel insurance for students outside their home country, meets most school requirements.
International Calling Cards: Keep in touch with your family and friends with low cost international calls from your mobile or home phone
USA Sim Card and Mobile Phones: Stay mobile with a sim card or mobile phone for the USA and get a local US number to cut your roaming charges…..

and with any new school, or back to school experience, its a time to make new friends:

-Join our Facebook Group and introduce yourself to our current members

-Participate in our Forums and chat with other students