Found this old post that might be of some value to some folks: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1357217-canada-creative-path-to-affordable-college-and-jobs.html
I’m frankly perplexed about why more Americans don’t look at uni options up north.
McGill is at least on the same level as UCLA/UNC and has some degrees (covering most majors) that are as cheap as in-state. Mount Allison is a LAC with some insane number of Rhodes Scholars (more than much bigger Ivies Columbia and UPenn added together) and is also the same as in-state costs.
McGill is probably the most impersonal, overwhelmingly large school I’ve ever seen. The first and second year lectures looked like sporting events, not classes. There is no hand-holding; rather, those hands are more apt to push you down a cliff. Plus, tricky to get jobs after graduation. I would say one’s instate flagship, with maybe a few exceptions, is a better choice.
If you need your hand held, you should not go to any Canadian school. If you are an independent and adventurous person then it can be a rewarding experience.
Are there any issues for Americans going to school in another country? Would their health insurance be accepted? Any other issues? Would they be full pay? Can you use a Stafford loan there? a Plus loan?
My sister went to McGill during a time when the Canadian dollar became stronger than the US dollar year-over-year – so the effective cost was higher than anticipated. Also, Montreal was not an inexpensive city in which to live. Flights were more expensive than similar distances in the US. Some of her classes were quite large, but many were very small due to her major. She was able to work for the US at Dorval airport – perhaps it is easier now for US students to get jobs in Canada, but it wasn’t when she attended.
Currency risk is a challenge.
My vague memory is that fees also varied quite a bit depending on your faculty (major).
UMN-TC is around $32k in CoA for OOS. It may be more affordable than schools in Canada after financial aids.
@mom2collegekids, in the link I posted, the poster said you have to buy Canadian health care insurance (she has the cost and other details). At many of the Canadian unis, you can apply your Federal US loans (don’t know about Plus). At many of them, unless you get merit money (which seems fairly rare), you’ll be full-pay (like OOS and Internationals here, Internationals there are also a source of money to those schools). However, even International tuition at most Canadian schools is comparable to in-state tuition at some publics here.
@TomSrOfBoston, definitely true of giant Canadian unis, which are comparable to giant publics here. They do have LACs, however, where instruction is more personal.
@billcsho, UM-TC is definitely one of the few OOS bargains left for those who don’t get big merit awards or fin aid (which is why the stats of students entering some majors there now rival what you need to get a big merit award somewhere), but are they in the habit of giving out their own money as fin aid to OOS? If not, their fin aid is comparable to those at many Canadian unis, where I believe Federal loans and grants may be applied.
Cheaper than UMN-TC would be UMN-Morris (public LAC) and the South Dakota public universities.
^^
Right…and the UMaine directionals like Fort Kent are a bargain as well to OOS students. And, if they have the rather modest stats to get further reductions by merit, they can be really inexpensive. The benchmarks are not high at all.
UMN-TC does offer large merit aids to OOS students with great stat. They even waive the application fee.
Do you get the tax break for getting education across the border? If not, that would be additional cost.
All true, but the alumni accomplishments of students & alums of those ME and MN directionals and SD schools pale compared to McGill, Mount Allison, and Waterloo (which is comparable to the top American CS schools). So either they’re doing something better or the student bodies at the Canadian schools I listed are much higher quality.
I’d say that McGill is comparable to UCLA. Mount Allison has produced far more Rhodes Scholars than any American LAC, and Waterloo is better than GTech.
Residents of CA/MI/VA/NC/WI/MN/TX & IL/WA/IN/FL/GA in certain majors can say that they have options at in-state costs just as good as the Canadian schools I listed. The rest of us can’t.
I’d say that having a school the caliber of UCLA and a top LAC as safeties at in-state prices are good options to have*.
*McGill isn’t very holistic, being mostly stats-based, and Americans actually have an easier time getting in than non-Quebecois Canadians (they like our money, even if the cost for many majors is comparable to in-state to some American publics). Mount Allison doesn’t seem very difficult to get in to.
@billcsho, you’d have to check on that. I don’t know.
If cost is the main reason to think about schools in Canada, then the exchange rate would be a main concern. The current exchange rate is good (though not as good as 15 years ago), but it was at least 30% higher a few years ago.
The exchange rate could work both for or against you, depending on where it goes from here, but yes, unless you put on currency hedges, that is a risk.
However, to me, certain Canadian schools are attractive because of their combination of cost/admissions/offering. Few of us live in a state where a school like UCLA/top LAC can serve as a safety at in-state prices or Cal/UIUC/UMich CS is available at in-state costs.
Yes, it may go either way. But for students with tight budget, there is not much room to gamble.