Financial Aid

You may be able to use financial aid toward study abroad program costs in several ways, including federal student aid, scholarships, and RIT aid. It’s important for you to meet with RIT financial aid to determine how your financial aid package may apply toward your chosen program. The amount of aid you would receive typically depends on how many credits you will be taking on your program abroad. The RIT Education Abroad office will help you understand expected program costs and the process for meeting with financial aid.

Expected Program Costs

Once you have a study abroad program in mind, you will receive an official budget worksheet from the RIT Education Abroad office outlining your expected program costs. The budget worksheet does not include your RIT financial aid or scholarships, which may cover some program costs. The purpose of the budget worksheet is to show all the costs associated with your study abroad program, which will help RIT Financial Aid determine how your aid and scholarships may be applied.

Overview of using financial aid towards study abroad program costs

Using Financial Aid

After receiving an official budget worksheet for your chosen program, you must meet with RIT Financial Aid. To understand how your financial aid and scholarships may apply to your program costs:

  • Make an appointment with your RIT financial aid assistant director (call Financial Aid at 585-475-2186) and mention that you are calling for a study abroad appointment
  • Upload a copy of your study abroad budget worksheet(s) via the Financial Aid upload portal at least 48 hours prior to your scheduled meeting so they have time to prepare 
    • Please ensure that your budget worksheet file name includes your name and student ID before uploading it to the Financial Aid portal.

Find your RIT Financial Aid contact

We recommend you meet with Financial Aid before your program’s application deadline to understand how your aid will apply. The RIT financial aid office is located in Bausch and Lomb Center (Bldg. 77), 2nd floor, 2125.

When you meet with RIT financial aid, you will be given a financial aid worksheet that details your available aid for study abroad (keep the worksheet for your records). If you are an NTID or Deaf/HOH student receiving VR support, you must send your financial aid worksheet to your VR counselor.