Keeping Costs Low

Some CCU students are willing and eager to put in a great deal of effort when applying for grant money. Others do not submit a single scholarship application. We consistently see the students who cast a wide net by applying to several funding sources pay for their own participation in education abroad successfully.

Even when parents, guardians or mentors are able and willing to cover the cost of a student's education in full, we always encourage students to invest in their own education by contributing a portion, however small, to the total program cost. With skin in the game, students may be more likely to accept responsibility for planning their own experience. Upon return, students who help pay for their international program – sometimes by picking up a part-time job, taking out a loan, and/or receiving scholarships – may be able to recognize more readily the many benefits of having studied or interned abroad program with CCU.

Campus staff are eager to share financial resources and teach students how to afford education abroad. It is also important to remember that scholarship money does not always have to be exclusively for funding an education abroad experience. For example, a student may find a scholarship for “college women from South Carolina studying science,” and that scholarship could apply to their education abroad budget. Furthermore, a student may not receive a scholarship prior to going abroad but can offset the cost of their international experience retroactively by submitting applications when they return.

Typically there is not an enormous amount of money available from one single source, but a focused effort by a student can yield a substantial amount of funding to apply toward an international program!

For more information, we recommend contacting Financial Aid and Scholarships. To schedule an appointment, please call +1 (843) 349-2313 or email finaid@coastal.edu.