Studying abroad is a dream for many students. A dream that often collides with a painful reality: cost! To avoid disappointment when preparing, ask yourself how you can finance your plans before considering how and when.
Unless you have family living locally or a particularly generous scholarship, studying abroad will be expensive. Very expensive! Prepare yourself for this reality. You will need to plan a budget factoring in housing, tuition fees, transport costs and other expenditure once you arrive. And clearly, some countries are more expensive than others.
In 2014, an analysis of 15 countries was carried out to calculate tuition fees and average living costs. The result highlights vast differences in costs between destinations.
Country | University fees /year | Living costs /year | Total cost /year |
---|---|---|---|
Australia | $24,081 | $18,012 | $42,093 |
USA | $24,914 | $11,651 | $36,564 |
United‐Kingdom | $21,365 | $13,680 | $35,045 |
Canada | $16,746 | $13,201 | $29,947 |
France | $247 | $16,530 | $16,777 |
Malaysia | $2,453 | $10,488 | $12,941 |
Indonesia | $4,378 | $8,527 | $12,905 |
Brazil | $59 | $12,569 | $12,627 |
Turkey | $1,276 | $10,089 | $11,365 |
China | $3,844 | $6,886 | $10,729 |
Mexico | $750 | $8,710 | $9,460 |
India | $581 | $5,062 | $5,642 |
Source: “Value of Education”, HSBC, April 2014.
If this has cooled your interest a little, then now is the time to take inspiration and tell yourself that, after all, there is considerable help to be found, as well as the possibility of financial support from your family.
For example, the EU Erasmus grant is an incentive reserved for students of the Erasmus programme. It is not awarded automatically, and your application must be made to the school or university where you currently study.
In Luxembourg, there are also a number of grants and loans offered by the State (AideFi), along with approved banks. The organisation provides very substantial support for eligible students to freely continue their higher education abroad. A simulator can be used to calculate the amount granted depending on the applicant’s profile.
So the budget issue has not put you off? Great! It is time to consider how. The most famous and probably the most complete programme is Erasmus. It consists of a student exchange between the various participating countries. This agreement allows for exchanges between the 28 European Union member states, as well as Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Turkey.
“Volunteering through the National Youth Service is just one of many possibilities”
Apart from Erasmus, there are other programmes that allow young people to study or live abroad for a while as part of an exchange. This can take the form of help financing your project, or assistance with the numerous formalities. Volunteering through the National Youth Service is just one of many possibilities.
Though generally agreed that it is better to go for at least a semester, ideally you should stay a year or more. Ultimately the decision is yours, and it is important to be realistic about your resources and time scale. Indeed, a lot of things can go wrong. You may regret it if you act on an impulse. Going abroad also means taking a break from your family, friends, surroundings and your routine for the most part. So above all you must feel ready.
When should you leave? This is one of the most important questions. At what point in my education am I allowed, or is it better, to leave? Whatever degree you are working towards, start your preparations as early as November or December to meet most of the deadlines set by host countries. In terms of your education, there is no particular “right” time to leave. It all depends on your plans.
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