For International Students

 

The University of Washington is a public institution; therefore no state or federal financial assistance is offered to international students. Students, their families and sponsors must assume all financial responsibility for tuition and living expenses. It is very important that applicants review the expected expenses before deciding to apply for admission. 

International students currently enrolled in the UW have access to limited institutional funding options. Though not exhaustive, the list includes merit based scholarships available through academic departments, generic scholarships open to all UW students, grants that support various student experiences (for example the Mary Gates Endowment) and on campus student work positions.

The Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships & Awards has a searchable database (requires current UWnetID), which allows continuing students to search for scholarships based on various criteria. Some private organizations offer scholarships available to international students and selecting “other visa status” under the citizenship option will show scholarships that do not require US citizenship. Or, various lists of scholarships available to international students have been developed. You may also find some scholarships that do not require US citizenship in the list of Incoming Student Scholarships.

International students should approach other on-campus student offices for information. The UW Undergraduate Admissions page provides specific financial information and the International Student Services Office has information regarding visa enquires. FIUTS (Foundation for International Understanding Through Students), a community non-profit organization, enhances internationl understanding and promotes cultural exchanges between UW international students and Americans.

Although financial aid from the University of Washington is not available for international students, these selected internet sites provide helpful information to international students attending the University of Washington or who are planning to come to UW.


International Student Spotlight: Peixian Liu  

 

Peixian Liu is a sophomore in Bioengineering and 2010-2011 Michalaski Scholar with the College of Engineering.   An international student from China, Peixian has quickly settled into the UW campus with work as a HHMI biology fellow, where she received special insight into beginning her work with the biology series and prepare for future career goals.  This past summer Peixian began research with the iGEM 2010 team with the Baker lab.  Her group has been working with protein designs to optimize CapD (Capsule-depolymerizing enzyme) for therapeutic drug development against anthrax.  She and her team will be presenting their work at the iCHEM 2010 Jamboree at MIT in November.
             Beyond the lab and class, Peixian is committed to volunteering and working on the UW campus.  She currently mentors in the UW PACE (Planning for Collegiate Excellence) program, where she tutors elementary school students and helps them begin to think about a future college experience.  Peixian also is an active facilitator in FIUTS, an organization she is dedicated to through her own experience as a transitioning international student this past year.  She hopes her move from China to Seattle and UW will contribute to the organization and the students undergoing a similar experience this fall.

Outside of her community and academic work, Peixian loves photography and believes pictures are able to capture the infinite beauty of the visual world and daily life.  She is also in the process of learning German, and she hopes to one day be able to exercise her language skills through reading philosophical texts and traveling to Germany.

Deeply effected by her experience with the 2002 SARS outbreak, hitting close to home in China, Peixian intends to pursue a career in medicine following graduation from the UW