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Costs

What a year actually costs

There is no single answer, and anyone who gives you one is guessing. What it costs depends on which passport you hold far more than on which university you choose, so start there.

The three numbers that matter, in the order they will hit you: tuition for the year, living costs for twelve months, and the amount the visa office needs to see in your account before it will decide. The third one surprises people, because it is money you must have rather than money you spend, and it is often the reason an application stops.

Where a year of tuition costs least

Tuition at a public university for an international student, lowest first, from our 62 country guides. Each figure comes from an official page and carries the date we checked it. Open a country for who pays what, and for the living costs and visa money that come on top.

All 62 countries, in your own currency →

What a low tuition figure does not mean

  • It is not cheap to live there. A country that charges little or no tuition still expects you to show about a year of living costs before it grants a visa. Each guide gives that amount.
  • “Free for EU students” is a different sentence. Several European countries charge EU and EEA nationals little or nothing and charge everyone else in full. Check which group you are in before you plan around a figure.
  • The language can decide the price. In some countries the low-cost programmes are the ones taught in the national language, and the English-taught version of the same degree is charged.
  • Semester and registration fees are real money. They are not called tuition, but they are due every term.
  • Private universities set their own fees. The figures here are for public universities; a private one in the same country can cost many times more.

Before you pay anyone anything

  • No honest agent charges you to be placed at a university. They are paid a commission by the institution. If someone asks you for a placement fee, ask them in writing what it is for.
  • No scholarship asks for an application fee. Not one.
  • Pay the institution, not a person. Into an account in the institution’s own name, from its own website. Never to an individual, and never by an irreversible transfer to someone you have not verified.
  • Where a register exists, check it first. For the United Kingdom, Australia and Japanese-language schools in Japan you can look the school up here; for Canada, use the government’s own list of designated learning institutions. Most countries publish none, which is normal and says nothing about the school.
Go further. What one year costs, line by line · What a month costs in student cities · Scholarships open to you · Country by country