Cost of study abroad (visa/healthcare) in Canada/USA/Australia

[Ineedcoffeenow]

DD is wanting to study abroad in either Canada, USA or Australia. Obviously there’s the travel costs and living costs will vary by location. I’m specifically interested in the costs of getting a visa to those countries and healthcare. She’s only just started university so we have a little while, but Can anyone help?

Sorry, I may not have been clear about her situation—she’s at a Scottish university and wanting to do a semester of her degree abroad.

Doesn't the university have this information for students? Not being goady,

If its Edinburgh here's the web pages. https://global.ed.ac.uk/study-work-away/study-exchanges. Apply in 1st term of 2nd year for 3rd year abroad (competitive based on 1st year results). Edinburgh provide medical insurance (basic). Financial help for widening access and compulsory year abroad. Not sure how much available if not in these groups. DDs department did talks which were very truthful about costs. DD did placement instead.

Yes, her first port of call should be her uni's exchanges team. They will have all the info as they do this all the time!

My daughter did a term in Melbourne.
Tuition fees were covered. We paid all the other costs included health insurance.

I think the basic student healthcare cost $400 - that was compulsory. We then got a better one with more benefits which cost $45 per month.

Thank you. She’s not at Edinburgh-I’ve not been able to see any information on the website about this stuff. But I’ll try emailing them.

Actually, scrub that. DD will email! I’ve not had a coffee this being yet.

How does it work for 2nd year entry students in science or engineering applying to an in-demand SA location (e.g. UChicago)?

@Muu9 same timing for application. Not sure how they choose (based on entry qualifications? Maybe they look at Semester 1 results too?). Even though you get your place confirmed before end of year, it is conditional on having progressed satisfactorily to honours at Edinburgh. I wonder how many go for Y2 entry and then year abroad.

Be very aware with Canada that there is at least a 6 month wait for Study Permits. My DD is studying her whole degree there and the admin side in general is very slow. Not helped by postal strikes over there.
Their public services seem as poor as ours!
However I would thoroughly recommend it for a year of study in every other respect. DD absolutely loves the place and the people.

Check if she needs a full student visa for one semester in Canada. Also factor in cost of id and biometric checks and travel to London to do in person appointments. We found it soon mounted up and confirmation was late which pushed up cost of flight and available uni accommodation. We also had to commit to a full year of accommodation even though dc course was September to May. Subletting proved less easy than suggested.

Hope you're still reading this thread Ineedmorecoffee - I've only just spotted it!
My student is also in 1st year at a Scottish University and is also wanting to do a semester at a Canadian University so I'm watching this thread with interest.

I think there is a lot of info about the process of getting accepted onto a student exchange programme but I think information on the actual visa/health insurance aspects require a little more student-led research (with a bit of help from parents as they need to know the cost implications!)

We're slowly gathering up cost estimates for biometrics, study permits, campus recreation passes, campus accommodation etc. The hardest thing to factor in is what happens accommodation-wise for the Scottish accommodation. My student is looking at a semester 2 exchange - so that would be Jan-May. Any accommodation secured for 2nd year in Scotland would need to be ditched for this period and I'm not sure how that can work. My student wants to go into a private flat-share situation with some friends for 2nd year. I imagine any tenancy agreement would tie them in to 10 months or a year - so what happens if they want to give it up after December - would they need to organise getting a tenant in to take up their tenancy from that point on? Would that be feasible - would their flatmates mind getting another random tenant in to replace their friend?

I've said they would maybe be better off trying to secure a hall of residence room for Semester 1 but they don't want to live in the University campus accommodation after 1st year because it will be full of, 1st years and older post-grads. I'm hoping there could be an exchange with a student from the Canadian University they hopefully get into - but not sure if that is a possiblity.

Early days and lots of questions. My student is putting together an email to send off to their overseas exchange team. I've said they need to find a 3rd or 4th year student who's actually done this so they can get info from the horse's mouth.

Have you made much progress @Ineedcoffeenow

Scottish tenancies are open ended and can be terminated with a month’s notice. It is possible they could swap another student in for those months then return, assuming others were amenable. Dc did a full year abroad for third year so it was relatively straightforward to come out and return to her flat, others doing one semester found it trickier but not impossible.

As a ballpark figure health insurance in the US is around £1200 per semester. It is incredibly specific and very difficult to shop around so just go with the one the US university is offering. It might be higher depending on the university.
Check you also have good travel insurance in place.
Accommodation, I suppose it varies from university to university but I'd expect an exchange student to be housed in their equivalent of halls of residence, basically accommodation on campus in the university 'village'. Impossible to give you an idea on this but you'd want to assume a minimum £6000 for a semester and it wouldn't include much of meals allowance. The university itself would subsidise some costs and the course fees should be covered already. Reading material is not cheap and it would be another expense unless there are copies available to borrow from the university library. Sometimes they can make do with online versions of books.
I'd think £10,0000 should be a good starting point.
As you said, travel (flights and taxis/buses) and living expenses for food would be separate.
You might be able to claim back some expenses such as for flights, visa requirements, health insurance. After the exchange is completed.
There might some financial support available upfront from the Scottish university.
Exchange schemes in the US are very well organised and all the information will be available once the place is offered. The Scottish university would also have a lot of official practical information and help. And don't forget the home university would more than likely have a communication hub specific for this topic where students can exchange information with those who already completed the process.

https://www.investopedia.com/how-much-does-health-insurance-cost-4774184
This says US health insurance costs an average of $500 per month - and young people are cheaper to insure than the elderly.

https://documents.ucr.edu/studenthealth/UCRiverside_Undergrad_Vol_PC.pdf
Here's an example of a university health insurance plan which their international students are likely to have. The price for health, dental, and vision insurance comes out to a little over $200 per month.

Thanks both.

I was calculating a ballpark of £8k for a 4 month semester (including accommodation, visas, subsistence etc…)The Scottish monthly maintenance loan we get is currently £840 per month (over 10 months) but might increase slightly for 2026? So basically we need to try and start saving as we’re short by approx £5k. My student has said they’ll save as much as they can - they’ve got a job but haven’t started yet. They’ll need to put the hours in over Summer.

Branster thanks for your post - do you think that a Canadian University semester would be any cheaper than a US Uni?

Muu9 $500 per month is so steep! I’m assuming that’s not Canadian $? (rather hoping it is though!)

I’m hoping they’ll be able to do all the biometric stuff at the Canadian consulate in Edinburgh and don’t have to travel to London to do that.

Unfortunately I have no knowledge of Canadian universities.
Typically a UK university would have links with specific foreign universities for exchange programs based on the study course. So your student should be able to find out which Canadian universities they can apply for. This narrows it. I would suggest they then do some research by asking other local students for specific questions. There would be some sort of online'chat' they could join and chat to other students. So, asking 'has anyone been to X university in Canada, could I please ask some questions on practicalities'.
Whatever you do, you simply cannot skimp on insurance. It really is incredibly detailed and the university itself would offer the option to buy a specific insurance. In fact, it may well be a requirement that you must have it.
Also, you'd get a list of immunisations which are compulsory. This is easily solved with the local GP practice but it's another thing to remember. At least this one is free.

Dc definitely had to go to London for the biometrics, it wasn’t Canada House though. This was 2022.

Forgot to say that the maintenance loan might be a bit higher for the duration of the exchange.
And look up what you can claim afterwards, Student Finance online and the local university would help with guidance.
You won't know the exact cost until the place is offered.
When DS asked us if he could go, before he started the process, our calculations came to about £15K. But it's not as bad as that when it's all over. And, hand on heart, it's worth every penny.

My DD in Canada (altho for the whole degree)
Medical insurance was arranged for when she landed by the uni (compulsory) and was $273 for 3 months through iMed. She had to apply for the province's insurance when she landed which takes 3 months to kick in. That is $75 per month.
A visa app is $150. You have to go to London for biometrics.
Costs will depend on uni and province. She is in BC and it is more expensive than some parts.
Having said that, on the whole costs are cheaper than equivalent in the UK.
We are over here now and eating out, food costs etc are all lower than home.

I am originally from the US, and we were really hoping DD1 could do a year abroad there. After looking into it and speaking to the school, we realised we wouldn't see change from £40K for the year. For some reason, she couldn't go for just one term. I can't remember if this cost included the flights or not, but it did not include spending money once she was out there. I did not want her going all the way out there and having to spend most nights waitressing for spending money or living in a grotty flat. This was for Boston College or George Washington University, both of which are in expensive areas for accommodation. But a university in Florida (can't remember which) and Arizona State were not going to be much cheaper.

Her friend went to a US uni for the year and I'm sad that we couldn't swing this opportunity for her but it was just too pricey.

@OVienna was that £40k over and above regular living costs? DD is already in an expensive city. We’d be paying £££ for accommodation and living costs are quite high so I figured that it would be a bit of a swap from one expensive place to another (apart from the extras of visa, travel, and health coverage that would be over and above regular living costs). She’s being drawn towards Australia and Canada at the moment. We’ve spent a lot of time in the USA and she says she wants to try somewhere new.

This cost did not include incidentals but would have included her accommodation costs, if that is what you mean. I spoke to DD and this did not include flights.

In fairness, I think the figure we arrived at was £37K. All of this depends on the exchange rate too.

It included the health insurance, that figure.