Financial Certification Guidelines
If you're an international student who wishes to study in the USA in F-1 visa status, you must demonstrate the ability to afford all education and living expenses. The estimated costs for the University of Baltimore are listed on the Estimate of Annual Expenses.
Students may be sponsored by a parent, relative, friend, government agency, scholarship agency or themselves. Funds to cover expenses for the first year of study must be demonstrated in full by a current bank statement showing available liquid assets. Funds for the remaining years of study must be guaranteed by the sponsor in his/her letter of financial support.
Sponsors should plan their long-term budget carefully. The cost of living expenses, books and the university's tuition and fees are subject to annual increase. Two to five years of full-time study should be anticipated, depending on the student's academic program.
Students who are admitted to the university must demonstrate the ability to pay all of their expenses prior to the issuance of a Form I-20 needed for F-1 Student visa status, or a Form DS-2019 needed, J-1 Exchange Visitor (Student category) visa status. This generally requires the following financial certification documents to assess a student or sponsor's ability and intention to pay for educational expenses:
- Letter of financial guarantee from the sponsor including his/her address and contact information, relationship to the student, and the USD amount that the sponsor is willing and able to pay each year throughout the duration of the student's program of study (consult the Estimate of Annual Expenses for the required USD amount). The letter must be signed and dated.
- Bank statement(s) of the sponsor must demonstrate that funds currently are available to cover 100% of the student's estimated costs for the first year of study.
These two documents may be scanned and e-mailed to intlservices@ubalt.edu. Documents do not need to be notarized.
Financial documents will be reviewed for sufficiency and eligibility for issuance of visa forms. These documents also must be presented by the student to the consulate at the time of the visa interview and to the immigration inspector at the port of entry to the U.S.