{"id":22417,"date":"2014-11-25T12:41:22","date_gmt":"2014-11-25T17:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=22417"},"modified":"2014-11-27T08:39:40","modified_gmt":"2014-11-27T13:39:40","slug":"funding-opportunities-for-exchange-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2014\/11\/25\/funding-opportunities-for-exchange-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Funding Opportunities for Exchange Students"},"content":{"rendered":"In my first two years at U of T, I got the sense that\u00a0many students were anxious about some of the purported costs of going on exchange. I heard that studying abroad\u00a0was exponentially more expensive than studying at U of T. Fortunately,\u00a0attending a few information sessions helped to clarify the real costs of studying abroad. It turns out that for students who already pay for their own\u00a0food and rent in Toronto,\u00a0the price of the plane ticket is the only major added\u00a0cost of studying abroad. School fees don't change!<\/strong>\u00a0The Centre for International Experience's (CIE)<\/a>\u00a0agreements with its partner institutions\u00a0allow U of T students to pay their regular U of T tuition when on exchange. This means that your school fees\u00a0are\u00a0not<\/em> vulnerable to exchange rates. Moreover, you can study at otherwise relatively expensive universities by paying your relatively cheaper U of T tuition. Students participating\u00a0in one of\u00a0CIE's\u00a0various programs<\/a>\u00a0can also apply for\u00a0scholarships, to help them make the most of their time abroad. Here are some of the funding sources that I looked into before leaving for Japan.\r\n\r\nThe Centre for International Experience (CIE) sponsors a number of scholarships and bursaries for its outbound exchange students.\u00a0 Some of the awards have specific criteria, e.g. collegiate affiliation or host country, but others are primarily based on academic merit and\/or financial need. You can find a full listing of CIE\u2019s scholarships and bursaries here<\/a>. Students considering the University of Tokyo or University of Kyoto should look into CIE\u2019s Mitsui Canada Foundation Student Scholarship, valued at $15,000.\r\n\r\nMany host countries\u2019 governments also sponsor scholarships for their inbound exchange students. Japan and Germany are two great examples. For short-term (up to one year) exchange students, the Japanese Government sponsors the merit-based Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) Scholarship<\/a>, valued at \u00a580,000 (approximately $800) per month for the duration of your stay. Over the course of two semesters, or\u00a0approximately\u00a0ten months, this amounts to a significant contribution: 10 months \u00d7 \u00a580,000 = \u00a5800,000. I am less familiar with public scholarships in other countries, but I know that Germany's\u00a0DAAD<\/a> program also offers financial support to inbound exchange students.\r\n\r\nThe Faculty of Arts & Science also provides\u00a0a number of scholarships in cooperation with various departments. These awards are open to all students within a particular department, instead of just exchange students, which means that the applicant pool is larger. However, mentioning your admission to an exchange program will likely make your application stand out. You can find a listing of each department\u2019s scholarships here<\/a>.\r\n\r\nEach college also offers a number of scholarships<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLastly, external scholarships can be great, albeit harder to find, sources of funding. The University of Toronto does not offer a comprehensive list of external scholarships, so it is up to you to do some research, and see what is out there for your field of study. Students interested in Japanese studies should check out Toronto\u2019s Shinki-Kai Scholarship<\/a> in 2015.\r\n\r\nIf you nail down enough scholarships, studying abroad can even be more affordable than studying in Toronto!\r\n\r\nNow that I'm in\u00a0Japan, I'm glad that I investigated the real costs of going on exchange. If I had relied on rumours, I likely\u00a0wouldn't have applied to CIE.\u00a0I would've missed out on the awesome experience that I'm having in Tokyo right now. If you have any questions about funding your time abroad, feel free to comment below.\r\n\r\n