(edit title) Student Loans for US Citizens Enrolled Full-Time in a Swedish Master's Program Options

[mattjameson]

Hey everyone,

I'm curious if anyone has any experience applying for student loans to study in Sweden, either at a US financial institution or a Swedish one.

The Swedish Embassy requires, before issuing you a student visa, that you demonstrate you have the full tuition fees for the program covered (done) and that you have at least (7300kr x 10 x 2) in a bank account to pre-fund all living expenses for the entire duration of your stay, even though you're allowed to work up to 20 hours a week on your student visa. The latter is the reason for which I am seeking a loan.

Unfortunately US banks only seem to offer loans to study at US schools, for study-abroad programs at US institutions, or for study at the limited number of foreign institutions eligible for FAFSA (i.e. government guaranteed) funding, for which the school I will be attending sadly is not.

Any thoughts or experience with this process would be greatly appreciated, as it is proving difficult to even find a bank willing to offer such a loan.

[johnjohn]

Swedish banks will not offer you loans unfortunately. Good luck.

[texaslass]

I do not think that Swedish universities have the FAFSA codes that are needed to apply for loans in the US.

It would probably be a better option for an American to study at an American university and do an exchange program in Sweden. That way you would have adequate funding. It is easier to get a student job in the US; I would not depend on finding a part time job in Sweden to pay for studies. As well, it is difficult for students to secure housing in Sweden, so living in the US is less of a hassle.

[mattjameson]

They don't have FAFSA codes you're right, which means that they're not eligible for direct-to-institution loans backed by the US government, but this does not disqualify private lenders from providing loans to students.

As for doing a study-abroad program, that's not practical for a number of reasons. I'm looking however for suggestions on how to proceed.

[Visit]

The major Swedish Universities can deal with the US Student Loan program especially for graduate school. I know for a fact that Lund University and Uppsala are on the list of approved Swedish Universities.

[mattjameson]

The Stockholm School of Economics unfortunately is not, and their international student office was not much help on the matter.