Cost of studying in the US

[Ijustwanttoask]

I am out of the loop here as my child is still very young, but for reference, can anyone give me a ballpark figure of the cost to study for a degree as overseas student in the US? I know that there are public and private universities over there and I assume the cost will be very different? How about living expenses?

Expensive! This is quite a useful article:

www.topuniversities.com/student-info/student-finance/how-much-does-it-cost-study-us

A friend's ds is at a low ranking US uni on a 70% sports scholarship and they are still having to find about $15,000 a year.

@mimbleandlittlemy That is very helpful indeed. I will research more. My impression is that being an overseas student the financial aid opportunity might be limited but I might well be wrong.

It is very limited for undergrad. Unless DC are hugely talented and can get "needs blind" scholarships. Not everywhere offers them. DD got a small scholarship for a very upscale Arts University but the cost to us was still circa $60,000 a year when you took accommodation, fees, living expenses flights etc into account. At our school the very well off were happy to go and certainly the very bright can go. Others in between: you need to be rich for a 4 year undergrad. We thought about $1/4 million. Unless it is vital to go, then staying here is a lot cheaper and just as good.

Fulbright have lots of info and we went to a talk from them. We came away deflated. The top Ivy League universities are vey rich and have generous scholarships. Other scholarships are more difficult to get if you are a UK citizen and you qualify for next to nothing from US universities or charitable organisations. Sport is the obvious one where funding can be generous. Local citizens in the US tend to get reduced fees too. Being very poor might help too. We are not. However look at Fulbright for info. Much better financial support at post grad level.

Universities usually have work positions on campus. I can’t remember what it’s called—was many years ago when I did mine—but it essentially provides part time work that goes to the cost of tuition and forms. For example working in a dormitory’s cafeteria or in the campus libraries.

Between that, a local scholarship from my state, a second scholarship from my chosen university, a student loan that I had to pay back after graduation, and my parents taking out a second mortgage, it all added up and paid for everything.

That’s all ok for US citizens. It’s not available for uk citizens. Even the work could be problematic. I don’t think saying what USA citizens get is remotely close to what a uk citizen can get. Which is mostly $0.

There are different categories for international students.

The best category for international students is universities that are need-blind for international students and meet full need. This means that they do not consider how much they would need to give you to enable you to attend when considering whether to offer you a place AND they will meet all your financial need. There are literally only a handful of very prestigious universities in this category.

The second category is ones that are need-aware for international students but will meet need if they offer you a place. This means that they will take into account your financial need when considering whether to offer you a place, so if you need a lot of money from them to be able to attend they will be less likely to offer you a place unless you are really, really good. However, if they do offer you a place, they will meet all your financial need (based on what they believe you should be able to pay given your income, which is often a lot more than you believe you can pay!).

Then there are need-blind universities that will not meet all your financial need - they will offer you a place purely on merit, but it is up to you to come up with the cash. Finally, there are ones that are neither need-blind nor meet all financial need.

Overseas students usually must pay full price. Scholarships, loans, work-study, etc., are almost always only available to US students. My daughter went to a small, extremely expensive private stem university. She had a full scholarship so we only had to pay for her books, but one of the professors told her that the university was kept afloat by rich foreign students whose parent had the money to pay full price, which was about $ 40,000 a year. The schools parking lots were full of very expensive luxury cars.

My DDs fees would have been $40,000 per annum. This isn’t unusual. Having talked to us parents who were visiting a university where we were staying, they confirmed big discounts for choosing in state. Obviously a great deal if your state has great universities. It’s not possible for all uk applicants to get nerds blind places for international students as there are so few unis that offer this. You do have to compete against the world! I cannot see that paying is worth it above having a loan here. Or even paying here!

I think we will find it difficult to afford it. My 2 kids are still small and by the time they are off to university, I think our income would have plateaued. I expect that we will have savings, so not poor enough to get much financial aid, but definitely not rich enough to send half a million dollars to send both.

Maybe we can afford a gap year or get them on a university course with a year abroad instead.

Look at UK unis where you can do a year studying abroad in the US.

There are lots of courses that offer a year abroad here. That’s easily the best value. My DD did an internship in New York as part of her course. Others I know went to Australia, USA, Canada etc for a year abroad as part of the course. My DD1 did a MFL degree and, although she didn’t study it, Spanish degree students went to South America. DD went to Italy and Switzerland. Going abroad is an amazing experience and definitely doing post grad qualifications in the USA is a better option. Of course travelling before university is also an option.

Out of interest may I ask when your DC are so small why you are so interested in uni in the US rather than here anyway?

@SeasonFinale

I have a DS in year 6 and a younger DD. We have to decide on a secondary school for DS pretty soon. We are lucky and have the choices of two very good independent schools and most likely a top grammar too. So we are weighing up the options, financially, for the future. We are lucky and can afford private secondary education for both but it will cut into savings, so I want to plan for the long term and see how our decision now may affect the opportunities for the next stage of their education.

I am probably overthinking!

Also I studied at a UK university as an overseas student myself before settling here permanently. That experience was invaluable in my personal growth. So it is not so much as thinking the US unis are better, but more about the experience of living and studying abroad.

Harvard, Yale, Princeton MIT and Amherst will pay full tuition + full living expenses if you have an income of under about $65,000, then for incomes up to about $120,000 they give some aid, depending on income.

This is for foreign students as well as US citizens.

Yes, I assume also that perhaps the indies you are looking at will be using Oxbridge and US admissions as part as their sales blurb too.

My DD spent a year at the University of Florida in Gainesville as part of her American Studies degree. It cost us more than we supported her for Y1 and 2 and now she is her 4th year but very doable. And she had an absolute blast and is now way more independent and mature. I would recommend it to anyone.

@Ijustwanttoask

Also I studied at a UK university as an overseas student myself before settling here permanently. That experience was invaluable in my personal growth. So it is not so much as thinking the US unis are better, but more about the experience of living and studying abroad.

If it's about the experience of studying abroad then, for example at the UK university I work at, students can do a year studying abroad (anywhere in the world at one of our partner universities) or a year working (can be in UK or overseas). This is by far and away the most cost-effective way of getting overseas experience as a student for a UK-national. And if they love it, they can always follow up with postgrad overseas.

That being said, I highly rate the US undergrad system. I did my undergrad in the UK and later did my postgrad degrees in the US. I absolutely loved studying in the US and I think I would have got a lot more out of the 'liberal arts' US undergrad degree than my UK undergrad, in part because I really didn't know what I wanted to study when I went to university.

I tend to steer clear of US application threads because there are always posters who provide incorrect information on what is available to UK prospective students, and that anyone who considers has more money than sense. There is more on offer than one realises, but applicants are in the minority and it's an awful lot of extra work if applying to UK and US.

CityDweller sums up the options well, and both have merits, and so dependent on what the student wants to get out of their international experience. If the aim is for top tier colleges, the scholarship options are low (e.g. no sports, not to be confused with athlete recruit status), but Financial Aid can be high. If aspirations are not so limited to IL/high ranked, then there are a range of scholarship awards/aid available, some will extend to international students but you need to dig by college. International students can work on campus but not outside as part of visa rules, I think in Canada they can work off-campus.

It's not for everyone, and I hope from a practical (and selfish) perspective, my DD stays in UK for UG, but, she has a strong profile fit for US (actually wants to study on a dual BA 4 yr UG course that's 2 x Europe, 2 x US), so it would suit her.

We're a one income family, not wealthy by any means but if she were successful, would weigh up the pros and cons of a subsidised offer (if forthcoming) vs UK fees, to include what she'd get out of it beyond academic value alone, that is arguably often better in UK. But I think there is more to life than just studying, so happy to support her applications.

They can go to Europe and study pretty much for free, if they want to. In Germany universities are free even for non-EU citizens, you pay €600 a year in admin fees and public transport pass. In my city a studio for a student is €350. So for less than 400 quid a month, you can study and live here.
France and Spain are similarly cheap. I don’t have much knowledge of other countries, but a uni in Belgium offers my very niche, normally expensive course, at €2k per year for non-EU students.

Europe is cheap and the quality is amazing, if you pick the right university. US is super mega expensive. I’d much rather use part of that money to travel and see more of the world than just the USA.

I would choose EU over USA I think, in terms of cultural impact as well as costs!

Thank you very much for the amazing advice all of you have given me. I had no idea that so many opportunities exist these days!

The quality of the teaching they get doing a liberal arts degree in the US isn't comparable to anything I've seen on offer in the U.K. or Europe. It's a wonderfully broad education. You really need to look college by college as to what their policies are regarding financial aid for international students. Some of the smaller liberal arts colleges can be very generous. Most Ivy League schools will foot the entire bill if you're on a lower income. Parents are dumb and tend to use the last few years of secondary to decide to consult and lower their income. Money stashed and held in the company books won't count. I'd send a child to Harvard over Oxbridge in a heartbeat. Then come back to the U.K. for a masters/PhD.

You don’t just get to send a child to Harvard any more than you do to Oxford.

At least some of us have been through the process and DD got a place. It’s not just about what you might get - it’s about the huge competition and chance of getting it. The Usa universities look at different criteria too. If you are the right person for Ivy League and you don’t have much money or are prepared to lie, go for it. But many don’t get in. If you are not likely to get into the rich universities, it’s not easy to afford the fees. If you are just about making school fees, do you not want to have money for DCs to have a house or start up a business?

Whatever is said here, getting funded is very difficult and it’s mostly the rich who go and those with lower incomes that can get the awards. In between those positions it’s difficult. Post grad is different. A year abroad from a uk uni is the best of both worlds.

Universities might be cheap in Germany but you need to speak German I believe. That’s a pretty big barrier to most uk students.

Universities might be cheap in Germany but you need to speak German I believe. That’s a pretty big barrier to most uk students.

Some offer courses in English. I knew very little spoken English when I came to study in the UK and learning the language was one of the most useful things I had to do. Same with German when I moved to Germany. We need to stop seeing languages as a barrier. It's enriching and there's no reason why a UK student can't learn a foreign language so they can go study abroad.

(Not saying abroad is better, but it's a good option that fits many kids.)