does state universities in the US offer scholarships to international students? what is the general criteria?

Answer 1

I'm an international student in the US and I have gotten a few scholarships so far, so it isn't impossible. However, I study at a Community College, not a four-year University. I don't think it makes a big difference though. If you are already attending a University or College in the States, check with them. On their website they should have a list of all scholarships available each semester. Apply to all those that don't require you be an American citizen or a permanent resident. Usually, they require that you have a 3.0 GPA or higher -- but some of them start from a 2.0 GPA, and others from a 3.5 GPA. Some scholarships may require that you are attending a specific program (Visual Arts, Nursing, IT, etc). If they ask you to write a short essay stating why you are applying to the scholarship, simply state that you are an international student, life and education in the US are expensive, your visa doesn't allow you to work off campus and in any case no more than 20 hours per week, and for international students it's harder to find funding because they don't qualify for federal aid, work-study and many scholarships.
You may also want to try what the first answer suggests: I myself have applied to some scholarships on fastweb.com -- there's some that are especially for international students, or for your field of study. They are not offered by your University or College, but it doesn't matter as long as it's money, right? So far, however, I've had better luck on the scholarships offered by the institution I'm studying at.
Hope this helps, and good luck!!!

Answer 2

Some of them do. I for one am looking for a few scholarships myself. I am here in the US, but I have seen some foreign scholarships. If you go to fastweb.com or scholarships.com, you can create a user account (free) by answering a few questions and they will send you different scholarships according to your answers. With some of them, you can't live in the US. Just about all universities will offer some sort of scholarship to out of country students. I hope you get one. Best of luck!