Not sure which board post this question on… My husband has a very attractive job offer in Stockholm. We have elementary school-aged children and I’m concerned that moving to Europe might hurt their chances for US college admission a decade down the road. I’m sure this has been asked before but… what would our children would be considered by US colleges if we lived in Stockholm? Domestic or foreign applicants? Both parents are American-born (husband’s parents are both Spain-born). Don’t want to even contemplate making something already challenging (college admissions – from NYC no less) more challenging. TIA.
They would not be international students. They are Americans living abroad. If anything, I would think it would increase their attractiveness. Will they be going to an American school, an international school, or a local Swedish school?
The one thing that could be a problem is that they won’t have a “home state” for state school admissions, if that’s a consideration.
It isn’t going to be a problem. If anything, they will be especially appreciated for the experience they bring.
As US citizens, they would be domestic applicants, but:
- No state residency for reduced tuition or better financial aid at any state universities.
- Non-US high school curriculum differences need to be checked in terms of meeting expectations for US universities.
- Standardized testing availability expected by US universities may be more limited.
Thanks for the replies. DS1, 7, has Asperger’s and now that our domestic/international concern is addressed, the biggest concern is whether the services and supports he receives in a NYC public school (all hard-won) would be too big a risk to give up. His need of specialized supports might nix this.
I don’t know if this is a job transfer or new employer (maybe it does not matter). I was in a similar situation about a decade ago. I worked for the US division of a Swedish company and was offered an opportunity to spend a couple year in Sweden. Had some similar concerns as you for a son, and my fears were put to bed. I would be surprised if a Swedish company, or the social system in general, did not take care of you. It’s worth asking. I personally would be more concerned about getting the support back when you return to the US.
Check with the company about state residency and college. When we lived abroad we were told we’d be considered “in state” in the state of the companies headquarters.
Thanks. It would be with Karolinska Institutet. I think I’m fantasizing that a lot of the stress of living/working in NYC (Manhattan) would be addressed with this big life change. Realistically. it would likely be hugely stressful for D1, potentially undoing a lot of the work we’ve been doing. But my husband wants to explore the idea and I’m trying to be open minded.
@basil1, you would have been considered ‘in state’ in the last state you lived in (not the company’s headquarters) for things like voting, but very rarely would that state continue to give you in state tuition benefits.
As an American living in Europe, I can say that it should not hurt your children at all for college admissions. They will be considered “American living abroad” but unless you still own property in the US, they will not be considered “in state” for tuition. If they are attending an IB international school, the school will be very familiar with the US college admissions process.
Be sure to investigate services for your Aspie kid before you make the move. Here in the UK, some of the American/International schools do not provide adequate services for special needs kids. Even in the state school system, the services are provided by the health care system, not the education system so it takes a very involved parent to coordinate everything. However, all services provided are free! Having an Aspie kid myself, I can say that, in general, the US schools provide much better support for special needs kids than the UK schools. Hope it is better in Sweden.
@twoinanddone We were with a global oil company, and I asked our HR person that exact question and she told me we have in state status in Texas, even though we’d been living in Oklahoma–however we didn’t stay long enough to test it out for ourselves. It can’t hurt to ask what the policy is anyway.
I’m not doubting that an HR person told you that, but I really doubt that a Texas college would grant you instate tuition rates, especially since you never lived in that state. You can be a resident of a state for the purposes of paying taxes (and Texas has no state income taxes) but the university system has its own definition of resident.
There are some states that will grant instate tuition to former residents who are expats, on a case by case basis depending on what kind of ties u maintain.
We still keep a home in our “home” state and file state income taxes there despite having expatriated more than a decade ago.
HR re internationals, often as not they have no real idea. The HR people have rarely left their domestic abode. A HR policy has no bearing on state’s uni residency requirements, but what you COULD do is have the potential cost difference written into your contract. Obviously this has no bearing on the OP who has pretty little children and we live in shaky times for global companies, however Europe residency could actually offer british Unis at Euro rates, which might be a win win.
Large organizations w sizable expatriate employee communities have well defined HR policies on expatriate issues and/or have good expatriation & repatriation advising.
I’ll just interject that many of the EU universities are at least as good as US institutions, too, and often cheaper than even in-state US options, particularly if travel costs don’t include flights back and forth to North America.
The problem w Americans going to a university overseas is the lack of US job placement services in that school. It’s unlikely that w only an undergrad degree and no work experience that a fresh grad is going to get a work visa in tbe country of that overseas university.
Depends on the country, really—a growing number of countries (led in Europe, arguably, by Germany) are being more than happy to import their next generation of brainpower via their university systems. (Also, graduates of many overseas colleges aren’t going to have any trouble finding work in the US, if that’s the goal.)
If the OP’s kids are in elementary school, by the time they are ready for college they will either be Swedish citizens (dual citizenship) or permanent residents. They will be able to take advantage of cheaper Euro tuition rates and will have full work priveleges in both Europe and US. I think the OP needs to really concentrate on whether moving to Sweden will benefit her children now - not 6-7 years in the future. A lot can change in 6 years - and given the difficulties of living in Sweden (expenses, language and weather), many expats do not stay that long.
Typically, getting PR and/or citizenship is not a default by just being in a country for several years on a work visa.