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Financial Aid

Italy by Shelby Erickson

Financial Aid & Education Abroad

Ed Abroad Billing
Financial Aid & Scholarships

Students can use their federal, state and institutional financial aid to help pay for any approved CU Boulder Education Abroad program. (Non-approved programs cannot be paid for with this aid). More information on billing timelines and how financial aid and scholarships apply can be found on the Accepted Student Guide.

Financial Aid for Semester and Year-long Programs

Students/parents who have filed the annual FAFSA form are generally offered at least enough money in the form of Stafford and Parent Plus (a loan to the parent) loans to cover their education abroad costs. If there is high need, students may also be offered grants. If offered Parent Plus loans, the parent must be willing and able to accept the Parent Plus loan, otherwise students will need to try to qualify for an alternative loan which is more difficult to obtain. To get more information, see CU's Office of Financial Aid.

Perpetual Motion, London, England by Nathan Cook

Financial Aid for Summer Programs

To be eligible for federal aid for summer programs you must be enrolled in at least 6 credits. This can be a combination of education abroad and on-campus courses. You are eligible for summer aid only to the extent that you have not reached your annual aid limits during the previous fall and spring semesters and provided you meet all other eligibility requirements. If you borrow the maximum amount of student loans during the fall and spring semesters, you may be eligible for alternative loans, and additional Parent Plus loans.

You must notify the Office of Financial Aid that you want to be considered for summer financial aid. In addition to having a processed FAFSA on file, you must complete a CU Boulder Summer Aid Application.

How/When Financial Aid is applied

Your Financial Aid will be available ten days before the start of the CU campus semester (regardless of when you program begins). Financial Aid gets applied to your online CU account as it usually does each semester.

The Office of Financial Aid recommends students authorize their Financial Aid to pay all university charges. More information and instructions to authorize this can be found at Financial Aid & Title IV.

Pre-Departure Costs

Since you won't have access to your financial aid until the term your program begins, you will need to pay out-of-pocket for some pre-departure costs. This could include your deposit to the CU Education Abroad office, your airline ticket, passport and visa, direct-to-program application fees or deposits, and vaccinations.

If you are concerned about paying for these expenses before your financial aid is available, contact your Ed Abroad program manager to discuss your options.

Additional sources of funding beyond State/Federal Financial Aid

GI Bill

Education Abroad

The current VA guidance only allows students to use GI Bill benefits to pay for an education abroad program under very strict rules. In most cases, students cannot use their GI Bill funds to pay for an education abroad program. The GI Bill benefits can be used only under these scenarios:
 
1. If course(s) abroad are CU Boulder Instructor-led (must be a CU Boulder Global Seminar or Global Internship; Global Intensives will not qualify). For this option, the GI Bill will cover the amount of tuition and fees equivalent to taking the same number of credits on the CU Boulder campus. You will be responsible for the remainder of the Program Fee and the Estimated Costs Not Included in the Program Fee.
2. If students attend a foreign institution using a Parent/Guest Letter, this scenario comes with many hurdles:*
  • the school abroad must be approved by the VA in the Weams database
  • the school abroad must be willing to accept non-degree study abroad students; many schools only accept full degree-seeking students
  • the student must go abroad independently of our office which usually means you cannot go on a program at a school with which we already have a partnership since the partnership requires you to enroll through our office
  • The student must find and seek out the Certifying Officials on the foreign school campus to get them to certify their enrollment
3. If students enroll as degree-seeking at the abroad university (transfers to another VA approved school and then back to CU)
  • This scenario is not easy as it requires un-enrolling from CU Boulder and finding a school abroad to enroll in.
If you are thinking of using your benefits to help pay for your program please connect with the CU Boulder VMA office and with Sarah Westmoreland in the Education Abroad office to get more details on how this might work. Contact sarah.westmoreland@colorado.edu prior to pursuing option 2 or 3. 

Please also note:
  • In order to use GI Bill benefits for a study abroad program in one of the three scenarios above, the courses you take must be required for your degree. If the courses are not needed in order to complete your degree, they will not be covered by the VA.
  • If you are going abroad under one of the three approved scenarios, the VA will pay the equivalent to what they would pay if you were taking the same number of credit hours on campus. Please talk to the CU Boulder VMA office to estimate what this amount will be and how your housing stipend could be affected.
*This option requires you to go abroad independently of the CU Education Abroad office. You won't be enrolled at CU while pursuing this option which means you cannot use financial aid you typically receive to attend CU.
 

CU in D.C.

In most cases students cannot use GI Bill benefits for CU in D.C. The exception is the CU in D.C. Global Seminars, since these are CU Boulder instructor-led programs.
 
Please also note:
  • In order to use GI Bill benefits for a CU in D.C. Global Seminar, the course(s) you take must be required for your degree. If the courses are not needed in order to complete your degree, they will not be covered by the VA.
  • If you are going on a CU in D.C. Global Seminar, the VA will pay the equivalent to what they would pay if you were taking the same number of credit hours on campus. Please talk to the CU Boulder VMA office to estimate what this amount will be and how your housing stipend could be affected.
Banner photo, Italy by Shelby Erickson