Most school-leavers with wanderlust who fancy studying in America dream of Ivy League universities such as Harvard and Yale. But there is a little-known and far cheaper alternative that virtually guarantees talented British students a place at an American university or college.

A consortium of state universities and smaller colleges in the United States is keen to attract British students and offers generous scholarships to lure them across the Atlantic. Although such institutions cost less to attend than household names, such as Princeton and Columbia, they still charge between $20,000 (about £12,250) and $43,000 a year (including living costs). However, academic and sports scholarships can cover at least half that.

The universities are said to be keen to attract British students to bring an international flavour to their campuses and to boost their reputations.

InTuition Scholarships, which describes itself as a mini-Ucas, represents 120 universities across America. It guarantees that every suitable sports applicant will receive a minimum of nine offers and five of these will cover at least half the student’s tuition and living costs each year.

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At least 15 offers are guaranteed for suitable candidates seeking academic scholarships. These are awarded based on students’ prior achievement as well as their potential and willingness to share ideas and experiences with classmates from other countries. Candidates should be in line to achieve at least two good A levels.

Rather than apply to individual universities, which is time consuming and expensive, students can go through InTuition, the central point set up by the institutions to handle scholarship applications. Those represented include universities in North Dakota, Wisconsin, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma and Michigan.

InTuition negotiates with appropriate universities to secure offers then these are presented together in a report so the student can compare them before choosing.

Sports-mad teenagers who want to take advantage of the facilities at American universities can apply for scholarships in tennis, golf, football or basketball.

Eligible candidates attend an annual trial showcase in Florida each July, where sports coaches and admissions directors from the universities come to watch the students play. They assess their talents, confidence and attitude and make them offers accordingly.

An Intuition spokesman says: “There has definitely been an Obama effect since January this year, in terms of numbers applying for scholarships in the United States. It may be due also to the issue of top-up tuition fees [at British universities].”

Mainstream state colleges are striving to attract more international students, the spokesman adds.

Prospective students do have to pay InTuition upfront to apply but this sum is refunded if they do not receive guaranteed scholarship offers. Applying for an academic scholarship costs $2,400 and the sports award programme costs $3,250, which includes two weeks in Florida. InTuition estimates that the amount payable after a scholarship is still considerably less than the total cost of tuition, board and lodging at a British university because the cost of living is cheaper in the United States.

Case Study

Matthew Nicholson-Lewis (pictured) plays tennis at national level and will probably use his skills to secure a place next year at an American university.

Nicholson-Lewis, 17, who lives near Cambridge, has received offers of scholarships from 18 universities in the US, including Oklahoma, Missouri, Michigan and North Carolina. He started playing tennis at the age of six and is taking A levels in sociology, PE and maths.

He says: “Quite a few people keen on tennis go to universities in the US because they can get a good scholarship. It makes it cheap. I went through InTuition and had to give my CV and a personal statement. They gave it out to universities they thought would be interested.

“I went to Miami in July for a trial and was out there for 12 days. For about eight days I played and had university people watching me.

“Most probably I will go to an American university. I’m looking forward to it.

I hope to study sociology or PE and would play tennis for three hours a day, five days a week.

“Quite a lot of people I play with are doing the same thing and going out to the US.”

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