I’m a junior in high school, and I’ve been thinking for awhile about going to college abroad, specifically in the UK. I’m trying to convince my parents, and I think my best bet is showing them that it is a good financial choice. However, when I’ve tried to do specific research on this, the results have been really varied. I’ve seen some people saying the total costs are about the same, while others have said that it costs as much as it would have at a public state school. I was just wondering if anyone had personal experience with going abroad for school and what their costs were ultimately like.
The UK can be a good financial choice for students who would be full pay in the US, but there is little or no aid like there would be for low income students attending college in the US.
International fees and living expenses including travel run about $40K to $50K per year depending on exchange rates (which have got worse by ~10% from a US perspective in the last year) if you are outside London. In London the total costs can be $50K to $60K per year. Sometimes science courses cost more than arts course, but that depends on the university (Oxbridge has a large premium for science).
That’s cheaper than full pay privates in the US, but more than an instate public, although the overall cost can be lower (and almost the same as 4 years at an instate public) if you go to England and choose a three year course outside London.
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@Twoin18 - our experience at Oxford has been very similar to what you suggest. Son is reading Maths/CS which is in the most expensive fee tier at Oxford. The all-in cost (tuition, fees, living expenses, travel)has been around $50k a year on average. For someone one who would have been full pay at a peer US college, it feels to me like a little bit of a deal. If you take a three year course, you do save an entire year due to the absence of “gen ed” requirements in the course. There is very little opportunity for aid/scholarships for international students though.
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