International Students and Scholars
Bringing Money
Upon Arrival in Carbondale,you will need U.S. dollars to obtain housing, make tuition and fee payment, and purchase textbooks and other supplies. Although individual needs vary, expenses during the first few weeks easily total several thousand dollards or more. While we recognize that you will need to have access to a considerable amount of money after arriving, we strongly recommend that you do not travel with large sums of cash. Safe and convenient ways to bring currency to the U.S. include traveler's checks, cashier's checks, or bank drafts. Of these, traveler's checks offer the most flexibility as the payee can be named at the time of use. Cashier's checks and bank drafts require that the payee's name be included at the time of issue. Ask that drafts include your name for identification purposes and ease of cashing. A credit card(such as Visa, MasterCard, etc.) is another currency option that is widely accepted in the U.S. Credit cards may be used for SIU tuition, fee and housing payments. Fro additional information about making payments to the university by credit card, please visit www.salukinet.siu.edu. Be careful to secure all of your personal property, particularly your passport and immigration documents, while traveling, especiallly upon arrival at airporst.