Financial Planning
This page contains information about all things finances: program costs, billing, financial aid and scholarships, budgeting, and currency abroad.
Education Abroad Costs and Funding
Program Costs
Check the "Costs and Funding" tab of your program brochure page for your program's estimated costs
Billable fees (marked with an asterisk (*)) will be charged to your bursar account directly and will appear in LionPATH
Payments will be due according to the regular university billing cycle
Non-billable fees are estimated expenses that you will either pay directly to your program or that you will pay out of pocket
Make a budget of how much money you will need for different upcoming expenses and stick to it!
Need help making a budget? Visit the Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center to get help with creating a budget, discussing monetary challenges and identity theft protection.
Financial Aid and Scholarships
Billable and non-billable items listed on the budget sheets are provided to the Office of Student Aid as the cost of attendance for the program
Visit the Prepare for Study Abroad section of the Office of Student Aid website for information on using your financial aid for study abroad
Visit the Costs & Funding section of the Penn State Global website for information about scholarships
Withdrawal Policies
Regardless of the reason and effective date of withdrawal, it is the student’s responsibility to immediately notify their education abroad adviser in writing and to understand the implications of their withdrawal actions.
Review the Education Abroad Policies page of our website for the terms of withdrawal. The costs of withdrawal may vary based on the type of program and the time by which the withdrawal was confirmed.
Currency and Banking Abroad
When traveling abroad, remember that you will likely be using a different currency in your host country. There are many currency converters online, such as, XE Currency Converter, for example, to help you understand the current exchange rate.
Take some local currency with you to get you started. Most U.S. banks offer currency exchange services.
Some locations are more cash-focused than the United States. ATMs are a convenient way to withdraw cash abroad.
Don’t carry large sums of cash on you at once; if you’re pick-pocketed, you’ll lose it all.
Call your bank and credit card companies at least a week before you leave the U.S. and let them know you’ll be using your cards abroad so they don't see your activity as fraudulent.
Most common credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) are widely accepted around the world
Be aware of ATM charges/foreign transaction/exchange fees. Talk to your bank ahead of time about partner banks that may waive ATM fees.