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International Student and Scholar Services
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Financial Requirements

To ensure that you are able to successfully meet your school and living expenses, the government requires that you document the availability of funds matching BYU's cost of attendance estimate.

  • F-visa holders must document that amount for one year to qualify for issuance of a Form I-20, with the expectation that funding will continue for the duration of their program.
  • J-visa holders must document the cost of attendance for the full program duration until graduation/completion to obtain a DS-2019.
  • For many potential international students and scholars, providing the required financial documentation can be challenging. While the cost of attendance for BYU is lower than many universities, it is still significant.
  • These funds must be immediately available to you and/or your sponsor. Click the following link for more tuition information.
  • Documentation must be no more than three months old and must contain your name or the name of your sponsor. If the financial documentation is not in English and/or not in $USD, you must clearly state the conversion to $USD somewhere on the document.

  • Acceptable documentation:

    • Personal or sponsor bank statements/letters certifying checking or savings amounts
    • Scholarship, fellowship, or assistantship award letters
    • BYU on-campus employment projected earning letters

  • Unacceptable documentation:

    • stock portfolios — this includes retirement portfolios and mutual funds
    • credit card limits
    • income tax forms showing past income
    • paycheck stubs

  • Each sponsor must provide signed documentation:

  • If a dependent spouse and/or child will accompany you to BYU, an additional funding amount of $2,500 for each dependent must be documented when requesting your F I-20 or J DS-20 at https://ist.byu.edu.

  • Required $4,000 Undergraduate International Student Deposit

    • All undergraduate BYU international students are required to pay the Church Education International Student Deposit before submitting an eForm to request your Form I-20 or DS-2019. You can pay the deposit here.
    • The deposit amount may be counted towards the total funding documentation, but it cannot be used for expenses as it will be kept as an emergency fund.
    • During your last year, you may spend the deposit down to $1,000.
    • At the end of your studies, you can request a refund of your deposit by emailing deanofstudents@byu.edu.