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[jules128]

I had this whole post written out and the internet ate it

ok, I need some advice. My husband and I both want to study in Latin America. We'd also like to work. Is it possible to do both legally?

He is from El Salvador and started university there until lack of funds brought him to the states. I'd like to study for a masters. Can anyone recommend a city in Mexico that has a low cost of living, decent university, and opportunities to teach? We need enough to live, pay for school, and make a student loan payment of $175. I have a BA in Linguistics and a TESOL cert, and some volunteer teaching experience. Has anyone here come on a student visa before? And does anyone have any idea of tuition costs? I've looked at a few university websites but I havent been able to find tuition rates listed. Thanks in advance for your help.

[Samantha]

Just a quick note...If you are on a student visa, which is required by some study programs, you won't be able to get a work visa. For example, ITESM, at least in my area, is very firm in explaining to foreign students at orientation that they must not attempt to work while here studying.

[MELEE]

Another note, the idea of "part-time student" or any student that in the US would be considered, nontraditional, is really just taking off. Students usually do not work and homework loads and class schedules are arranged with that in mind. The university where I work, which is not necessarily standard, does not allow students to just take a class or two. You take a full load each semester or nothing.
But I have seen more and more advertisements for alternative study programs that are just on the weekends or evenings. UPAEP in Puebla has an MA in education that is Friday evening and all day Saturday aimed at in service teachers(primary and secondary school teachers). They offer in in Puebla, and also at their Tehucan extention campus. If you plan to live out the rest of your lives here in Mexico or El Salvador, that might be a good option for you. What I don't know is would it be recognized if you ever moved back to your home country? Puebla city has many universities and might be a good option. Private ones have very high tuition, public ones very low or no tuition, but foriegners usually have an enterly different tuition scale. Some Latin American countries have relationships with certain Mexican universities. I know that Columbia and UNAM have such a relationship and many Columbians come to UNAM for post grad studies. Are you currently in El Salvador or the US? You husband might be able to get some sort of scholarship but probably it would have to be arranged in El Salvador?

[jules128]

well, I dont know where we're going to live or what we're going to do. I specifically want to study public health and I've found two programs I'm interested in. One is in Mexico in Cuernavaca, Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica. What's great is that it's accredited by the Association of Schools of Public Health, which is the same accreditation that say, Johns Hopkins has. For Mexicans, it's about $700 a year, for foreigners it's $5000. Which is still better than $43,000 for Hopkins. Then there's a program in San Salvador at the Univ. of Central America (UCA) that my husband says is a good school and it would cost about $2000 a year. I haven't looked into visas for El Salvador yet, but I'm assuming since we'll be married I would be able to get an immigrant visa. My husband is starting from scratch as far as university goes. He took the entrance exams in El Sal. but funding fell through and he left. If it's not possible to work and study would you recommend just saving as much as possible and just studying? and in Mexico or El Salvador (or somewhere else)? I guess this doesn't really matter if I'm not accepted to either program! but best case scenario...