How does a person raise money to study abroad for a semester? (Besides government grants and parents)?

I am a junior at an accredited university in the USA. I am wondering how in the world anybody can pay for studying abroad?! I've checked with governmental grants and they are all for high financial need students. My parents can't afford the whole cost and I have a job and work full time. If anybody knows what I haven't tried, please let me know! If not, donations are always excepted to help further the education of America's youth! ;)

How does a person raise money to study abroad for a semester? (Besides government grants and parents)?
First of all, if you go through your school's foreign exchange program, you might end up paying a premium for studying abroad. They likely will charge you their same U.S. tuition, while the college in the foreign country might charge less. For example, students paying $20,000 in tuition at a fancy private university in the U.S. will pay the same amount of tuition to study in Mexico, even though the tuition in Mexico is far less. This is because the U.S. university can convince parents that the university will "take care of them" while they are in another country. This is largely false. The students will be on their own essentially.





Get the list of what foreign universities your school has programs with or accepts credits from. Then contact the schools that interest you yourself (via the internet) and see if they allow "independent" students. The tuition will probably be a lot less.





The other place that U.S. universities rip off students and their families is in the room and board charges. Your university may charge you $20 a day for room and board but give the family that hosts you only $10.





You will arrive there thinking that you will get three full meals a day whereas the $10 the family gets for you barely covers dry cereal and milk in a major city in Mexico for example, where the costs of food are not that much cheaper than in the U.S. These families often feel resentment towards the students. (One school demands that Mexican hosts cook a "full Mexican breakfast" when people in Mexico often only have coffee and cold cereal for breakfast - just like in the U.S. So these ladies have to spend a lot of money to satisfy some administrator in the U.S.'s idea of some archaic "full Mexican breakfast.") You can find your own housing - stay in a hostel and ask around.





So, avoid the fraud commited by U.S. universities, enroll as a direct student (first make sure your school will accept the credits), do it on your own, and have a better time. Besides, you don't really want to be with a group of people from your school - being an independent student you will have more opportunities to learn a new language.
Reply:you can apply for scholarships.....I found a list of scholarships in http://www.edufive.com/Scholarships.html


check them out
Reply:I took out private student loans to go study abroad. It sucks to pay them back, but it was worth every penny. Check out PLUS loans or ask a fin aid counselor at your school for options.