There is little financial aid is available for foreign students, with the unique exception of Canadian and Mexican students. A majority of aid is awarded as grants, scholarships, and loans that come through public and private sources which restrict their awards to American citizens. That being said there is financial aid still available for international students.
There are colleges and universities that offer aid to international students. To find out if the school in question offers such assistance inquire to the financial aid office of the institution. Some schools offer grants, loans and jobs, and give anywhere from 15 to 150 awards to foreign students. For example, schools such as Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, University of Miami, Ithica College, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins, University of Chicago, and University of Oregon all offer packages to foreign students. Graduate students may have more luck with financial aid. This is because graduate and teaching assistantships are offered on the basis of academic achievement, regardless of citizenship. Although International students are not eligible for the US government aid programs like the Pell Grant, SEOG Grant, Stafford Loan, Perkins Loan, PLUS Loan, and Federal Work study, many schools will ask international students to submit a FAFSA so that they may use the data for assessing financial need.
There is also assistance a student can seek from their native country. Canadian students attending colleges in the USA may obtain loans through the Canadian government's Ministry of Skills, Training, and Labour. Alternative loans Canadian international students may apply for are the Canadian Higher Education Loan Program, Global Student Loan Corporation (GLSC), and International Student Loan Program (ISLP). Financial Aid for European Students can be looked by using Noopolis, a database in Italy run by CNR (the Italian equivalent of the US's National Science Foundation). It has information regarding financial aid for Italian citizens to study abroad. There are also U.S. Educational Advising Centers throughout the world that assist prospective students by answering the questions they have about studying in the United States.