Cost and Financial Aid FAQs

To learn about the costs of your program, start by finding it in our program database. Once you have found your program, click on the program name to learn more about it. Look for the “Costs & Funding” information, and click the button to visit our application website where you can use the calculator to customize the information to your tuition cohort and spending habits. From there, you can get a good picture of the estimated costs.

Be sure to review these costs with a Financial Aid Counselor for Education Abroad by scheduling an appointment through KSU Advising. They can help you plan your budget and let you know how your financial aid and scholarships will apply.

The Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center learns that you are going abroad when you turn in your Transfer Course Planning (TCP) Form or when OGE sends them a roster. Once they receive confirmation that you are going abroad, you can submit an Education Abroad Cost of Attendance Increase Form.  That information is used to calculate a new cost of attendance based on the higher or lower costs of your program.

Once the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center makes these updates, they will notify you through FlashLine, where you will receive a message stating your remaining eligibility to cover additional expenses while abroad. This will help you determine if you need to take out additional loans or search for scholarships to help cover the expenses of studying abroad.

Don’t forget to monitor your ‘Active Messages’ by logging into Flashline:

• Log on to FlashLine and select the ‘Student’ tab.
• Under ‘Finances’, click on ‘Scholarships & Financial Aid’.
• Click on ‘Financial Aid Status’.
• Select the current aid year from the drop down box and ‘Submit’.
• Click on ‘You Have Active Messages’.

How you pay depends on the type of program you enroll in.

For programs run by Kent State:

• You will be billed by the Kent State University Bursar for the items listed (excluding airfare if you fly independently). The payment portal can be found in FlashLine.
• Summer programs require full payment in one sum; there are no payment plans available.
• If you are studying abroad for spring and fall programs, you can pay in three installments over 2-6 months via our flexible payment plan.

For programs run by other universities or providers (non-Kent-State-Sponsored programs):

• You will be responsible for paying the provider of your non-Kent-State-Sponsored program directly. Be sure to contact them early and make sure you fully understand the payment process for the program you have selected. 

In most cases, you are eligible to receive financial aid to assist with the costs of your education abroad program. There may be additional requirements based on the type of aid you have and the program you choose. If you are taking courses at another university abroad, you will need to complete a Transfer Course Planning Form (TCP). The Office of Global Education will notify you if you will need to complete that form when you apply to the program of your choice.

There may be other regulations required for certain types of financial aid, such as following the Standards of Academic Progress, submitting documentation for FAFSA verification, or checking with your scholarship provider to determine if you would be able to receive your scholarship while studying abroad. The best thing to do is to review your account for active messages or contact the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center if you are unsure about your eligibility for aid.

The education abroad program type determines what steps you will need to take to receive financial aid. To determine your eligibility, the first step would be to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as soon as possible to begin the process.

The FAFSA needs to be completed every year, typically in fall and ideally one year before you go abroad. Once the Student Financial Aid Office receives your FAFSA results, they will determine your eligibility for federal, state, and institutional aid. You will receive a financial aid email and can view your awards on your FlashLine account.

The amount of financial aid and the type of financial aid will be based on your FAFSA results and the cost of the education abroad program. In most cases, you will be able to use all of your financial aid available to you during that term. If you need additional funds for your program, you can consider either a Federal Direct Parent PLUS loan, a Graduate PLUS Loan if you are a graduate student, or a private loan.

More information may be found at the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center. You are encouraged to email the Financial Aid Counselor for Education Abroad, finaideducationabroad@kent.edu, with any questions about your financial aid.

The sooner the better! We recommend that you make contact at least one full semester prior to your study abroad program start date. Financial aid advising appointments for study abroad can be scheduled through KSU Advising (group name: Education Abroad). It is never too early to start planning and saving for your international education experience.

You will likely be able to use your Kent State scholarships on KSU’s education programs; however, please be sure to discuss your personal situation with the Student Financial Aid office.

If you have external scholarships (not awarded by Kent State University) you are advised to contact the scholarship provider to determine your eligibility for their scholarship while studying abroad.

Obtaining international education scholarships can be competitive. Begin your search by visiting Kent State’s scholarship page and complete the Scholarship Search Qualifier to see what is available through Kent State. It is important to check with your college or program to see what they have available for students going abroad. Other resources include registering with several of the external search engines that are listed on the financial aid webpage, and checking with local companies and organizations. Inform your family and friends that you are in college and studying abroad, as they may know of other resources or scholarship opportunities that are not found online. Finally, be sure to check the Education Abroad Scholarships page.

If you would like to reallocate your federal Direct Loans to the semester of your study abroad program, you can complete the Uneven Disbursement Request Form. Please be aware that Direct Loan (Subsidized/Unsubsidized) money will be removed from other semester(s) and put into the requested semester based on your financial aid eligibility. This money cannot be replaced with more federal Direct Loans and the result will be less funding during the remaining semesters.

This form is not a request for additional financial aid; it simply reallocates the Federal Direct Loan money that you have already been awarded for the year. To request this adjustment due to additional costs incurred in a study abroad program, you must already be committed to the program and indicate on the form that it is for study abroad costs. This form can be found in our forms database.

If you receive a tuition waiver, it can be applied to eligible education abroad programs. Please contact your Education Abroad Advisor to let them know you receive a tuition waiver so that it can be appropriately applied.

If you receive Post 9/11 GI Bill funds, you may be able to use that money to help pay for your education abroad program. Please contact cavs@kent.edu if you have any questions about using VA benefits for education abroad programs.

Your financial aid will be applied to the semester in which the program starts. In this case, your spring financial aid would be applied to the cost of the program. Review with the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center for payment due dates and disbursement dates. There are instances where you will be abroad before your financial aid has disbursed to your account. In that case, it might be best to take additional aid the semester before you go, to ensure 3-4 weeks of expenses while abroad.

If you are participating in a Kent State faculty-led short term program, you can check with the faculty member regarding the costs and deadlines of the class.

The Student Financial Aid Office might not receive any cost information about your faculty-led program since KSU offers many short-term programs abroad. In order for them to update your student account to show that you have additional costs that you may incur as a result of studying abroad, you can submit the Study Abroad/Away Cost of Attendance Increase Form. In most cases, it will allow for additional Parent PLUS loan funds or a private loan.

If you are heading abroad during the summer semester, you must complete the Enrollment Plan Q&A on your FlashLine account. If you have any questions or need to update your enrollment plans, please refer to the Financial Aid Summer Information page. Please note, students attending an intersession program will not have their summer financial aid until a week prior to the Summer I Session start date.

Unfortunately, this is not possible. Your financial aid cannot be applied to your Kent State student account earlier than 10 days prior to the first day of classes at Kent State, even if your program abroad begins before Kent State’s semester does.

Please note that it may take several days after the funds transfer for you to receive any excess funds in the form of a refund. We highly recommend that you select a refund preference before leaving the country, and that you have 2-3 weeks of funds available so that you are able to cover the first few weeks of living expenses before you receive a refund. For further questions regarding refunds and BankMobile please contact the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center.

Yes, regulations require that your financial aid does not disburse until 10 days prior to your first day of class at the visiting institution. If your education abroad program starts six weeks after Kent State’s semester, your aid will not be disbursed until the fifth week of Kent State’s semester. The Bursar’s Office is aware of the regulation and will be notified of the program’s start date so that no late fees occur.

Each program is different, and we are aware of these late disbursement dates. If you need to discuss your situation regarding a program with a later start date, please contact the Financial, Billing and Enrollment Center.