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The pros and cons of studying abroad - is doing a degree overseas cheaper?

As uni costs continue to soar, it's worth creating a pro and con list of your own to see if studying abroad may suit you best
As uni costs continue to soar, it's worth creating a pro and con list of your own to see if studying abroad may suit you best

Is doing a degree overseas easier and cheaper? Helena Pozniak investigates.

Where on earth can you study engineering with ballet? Probably nowhere in the UK, but one student has found a perfect fit – at a university in Texas.

“Sometimes students just don’t fit the UK system,” says David Hawkins, a university consultant who helped the 18-year-old find a course that matched her passions. UK students don’t travel in great numbers, but some 3,000 students are currently studying in Dutch universities, up from just 54 a decade ago.

Canada, the US and Australia are the top anglophone destinations alongside the Netherlands. But study abroad beyond state universities isn’t cheap and there’s no access to UK student loans – so even if a UK student chooses a degree at a Dutch state university at €6,000 (around £5,400) for three years, they can’t borrow tuition fees.

Prestigious private universities, such as IE University in Madrid and Bocconi University in Milan, are popular with UK students but expensive – IE costs upwards of €21,000 (around £19,000) a year.

Some of the 4,000 US universities are equally eye-watering – NYU Stern costs more than $70,000 (around £57,600) a year, while the innovative Minerva Schools at KGI – where students can move around and live together in dorms in seven locations around the world–costs a more modest $25,950 (around £21,300).

But settling overseas can mean homesickness, adjustment to language and culture, and wrestling with unfamiliar bureaucracy and systems.

“Not every 18-year-old will cope, and that’s fine,” says Mark Huntington, founder and managing director of A Star Future. “Don’t choose it because it’s cheaper – you must be really motivated to do something different.”

Perhaps an easier way to travel is to choose the year of study abroad at a partner university, offered by many UK institutions. The University of Manchester, for instance, packs students off to California, Auckland, Toronto, Europe and more for a year, with great success–although, as of 2020, extra charge will apply for this option.

And what do employers think? They’re largely enthusiastic – not least because global firms need staff who understand cultures and markets abroad.

“Moving to another country and adapting to a different culture takes resilience and independence,” says Anna Purchas, head of people at KPMG, echoing views of many employers. “Being open to global mobility can be an asset.”

And, if students worry that UK firms might not appreciate the ranking of an overseas university, they can always mention it in a covering letter. One of the greatest obstacles to study abroad is the application process.

“It’s not UCAS-by-sea,” says Hawkins – other countries tend not to have a centralised system. Applicants need to start preparing for US admissions tests as early as September, but at some European universities, it’s enough simply to register on the first day of term.

“Parents often worry how a degree abroad will be valued,” says Huntingdon, “but many students see study overseas as a way of future- proofing their education.”

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