US education - undergraduate & graduate?

Question

what is the difference between an undergraduate and graduate student in u.s universities?

im an english citizen and would like to go to uni in america, does anyone have any advice on what websites to go to to get advice on financial aids?

and what uni's would you reccommend in america?

are south carolina and california ones good?

Answer 1

1) The difference between a graduate student and an undergraduate student is that the former has already earned a Bachelor's degree at college/university which is four-years of higher-education.

If you are asking, then you are probably an undergraduate.

2) For websites see the links below. There is no financial aid available to international students inside of the United States since the funds are just not available at the undergraduate level. If you need funding then you must seek outside sources such as loans from banks, or grants and scholarships from organizations - just be aware that these are very competive and usually reserved for those who excel in a certain area of studies and many require you to be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States to be eligble.

The majority of international students in the U.S. are self-funded, relying on funds from parents, family members and their own savings. There is very little available for undergradate students.

3) The United States has many universities and all of them offer a high quality education which is both accredited and recognized in many different countries. The key is to chose a university which firstly offers the major you wish to pursue but ultimately one that you can afford. Bare in mind that studyin in the U.S. ranges between $18,000-$45,000 per year and this includes tuition, rent, insurance, books and most other living expenses.

If money is an issue then I suggest looking at community colleges and education is much cheaper.

4) California and South Carolina are both states and not universities. Inside those states are many different universities.

South Carolina's main public university is the University of South Carolina, the cost of attendence is going to be about $24,000 per year for tuition and books alone!

California is home to CSU and UC both of which are very expensive. CSU is going to cost about $18,000 per semester ($36,000 a year) for tuition alone, while UC will probably cost around $15,000 ($30,000) per semester/(year).