The cost of out-of-state tuition increased 7.1 percent this academic year, and undergraduate international students are especially feeling the added costs because they aren’t eligible for the same financial aid as U.S. residents.

“It’s a heavy burden for our families,” said Pan, a mathematics senior originally from China. “I have a part-time job on campus. Compared to the tuition rate it is too small.”

American students can apply for federal aid through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Students from Michigan can qualify for state aid such as the Michigan Competitive Scholarship.

But international students don’t have these options, said Val Meyers, associate director of the MSU Office of Financial Aid.

In some cases, students that come to MSU are sponsored by their home country, Meyers said. And although MSU offers thousands of scholarships annually, there “aren’t many” for which they can qualify, she said. However there is no way of telling how many international students can receive because in many cases the donors stipulate the scholarship’s qualifications, she added.

“There are scholarships but most of them you usually get when you’re a high school senior, just before you enter MSU,” said Emeka Igwe, a premedical junior from Nigeria. “It’s hard for me to find new scholarships (at MSU) to help reduce the financial burden.”

During the 2006-07 academic year, 38 percent of international students received financial aid, compared to the 76 percent of domestic students, according to the Office of Financial Aid.

“(International students) can get loans, but the loans are usually at a high interest rate due to the fact that they’re not citizens here,” Namy said. “Sometimes companies are kind of scared to try and disperse funds (to the students).”

Mamud Dako came to MSU in 2005 as an undergraduate student from Nigeria. Now a packaging graduate student, the fact that his tuition was entirely paid for by his family is logical, he said.

“It kind of makes sense that we don’t get the kind of financial aid that American students would get, given that we don’t have a history here,” he said. “When you’re done with school you go back home and nobody can track you. If you’re given a loan to pay back after graduation, accountability becomes an issue.”

The benefit of international study is worth it, Dako said.

“MSU is cheap compared to a lot of schools of this class,” he said. “You’re looking for quality in your education. If you have a foreign degree, you’re more marketable anywhere in the world.”