International Students
The primary sources of funding for International Students are personal resources, a lending institution in the home country, or a private loan through a US bank. Generally, US lenders require that a US Citizen or Permanent Resident (green card holder) co-sign the loan.
In the interest of assisting our students with the funding process, our office has compiled a list of funding-related websites for your convenience.
- You are not limited to the lending institutions or organizations listed.
- You can research, apply individually, and work directly with the funding resource.
As a starting point, please reference the third-party scholarship list.
Rice University uses Flywire for international payments to make payment process secure and simple when paying the university from accounts in your home country. With Flywire, you can pay online from any country and any bank. It is a safe and trusted payment method that can be tracked by you and the university each step of the way.
The following loan opportunities may not require a US citizen or permanent resident co-signer.
Banco de México-FIDERH is a federal trust managed by the Central Banco de México that offers affordable low-interest loans to Mexican students for graduate studies either in Mexico or abroad.
Global Student Loan Corporation is a third-party loan facilitator that assists in providing educational loans without a US citizen or permanent resident co-signer to citizens of India.
US banks typically require international students to have a US Citizen or Permanent Resident (green card holder) co-signer when applying.
If you will be using private student loans or applying to third-party scholarship organizations, please thoroughly research the organization and choose the funding option that is right for you. Additional information about private student loans can be found here. Select "International" from the drop down menu and click on "View Loans".
Disbursement
Assuming you have completed all loan application steps, funding begins to disburse in 1/3 increments during the first week of each quadmester.
Funding is transferred from the lender directly to Rice University and is then applied toward your ESTHER Student Account.
Refund
If you decide to borrow above the cost of tuition and fees, the credit on your account will be refunded to you by the University Cashier's Office. We recommend that you set-up a Refund account in your ESTHER Payment Suite so that funds can be electronically transferred to your bank account.
Navigation: ESTHER => Student Services => Payment Suite (grey button) => Refund
If you choose to not set-up a Refund account, it can take 2-3 weeks for you to receive a mailed refund check.