April 27
The Supposed Disadvantages of Studying in the U.S.: Cost
As in yesterday’s post, I’m going to speak very briefly about a supposed reason not to study in the U.S.
The reason? It costs too much.
Verdict: False
As we mentioned in a previous post in this series, while it is true that a U.S. university can be expensive, it’s also true that the U.S. spends more per student than almost any other country. So it’s not as if you’re paying for nothing.
But more than that, is university study in the U.S. really so much more expensive than other countries? I’m always skeptical of claims like “universities in _____ country are expensive,” because, as we saw in yesterday’s post, there are so many different kinds of universities and programs available. In every country, you’ll find some programs that are expensive and some that are not. For example, let’s look at some very basic tuition information available on the web (NOTE: these are estimates taken from random sites for the purposes of illustrating a point):
- Tuition in the U.K. is between £3,500 to £18,000 a year
- Tuition in Australia is between $A10,000- $A16,000 a year
- Tuition in the U.S. is between $5,000 and $30,000 a year
Using today’s exchange rates, and taking the middle point of those ranges, tuition costs work out to be:
- UK: $15,695
- Australia: $9,347
- U.S.: $17,500
Now, are there differences? Yes. Are the differences so overwhelmingly big so as to make you immediately discard the idea of studying in the U.S.?
Probably not.
The bottom line is that, yes, the U.S. will tend to be more expensive for university study . . .but probably not by such a large amount as to outweigh the various benefits of going there. And always remember, there are going to be universities in the U.S. that cost less than the average university in the U.K. or Australia. It all depends on what you want and what kind of program you’re looking for.
For Your Consideration:
Have you looked at specific universities in the U.S.? Do you know how much it would cost to attend? Have you looked for other schools which might cost less?
SERIES: Why study in the U.S.?
- April 20 – Introduction
- April 21 – Diversity at U.S. campuses
- April 22 – Value of U.S. degrees
- April 23 – The Facilities
- April 24 – Practical focus of U.S. education
- April 25 – Variety of U.S. programs
- April 26 – The supposed disadvantages of study in the U.S.: visas
- April 27 - The supposed disadvantages of study in the U.S.: cost
- April 28 - Some real disadvantages of study in the U.S.: it might not help in your profession
- April 29 – Some real disadvantages of study in the U.S.: will you fit in “going back?”
- April 30 – Other disadvantages
- May 1 – So, should you study in the U.S.?
Leave a Reply
Tags: average cost of studying in the U.S., comparison of university costs, comparison of university costs between U.S. Australia and U.K., cost of studying in the U.S., cost of U.S. education, disadvantages of a U.S. education, expenditure per student in tertiary education, how much does it cost to study in the U.S.?, international students, International students in the U.S., research about study in the U.S., Should I Study in the U.S.?, study in the United States, the value of U.S. degrees, U.S. universities
