Video summary
The video provides a comprehensive breakdown of the annual costs associated with studying in various countries, factoring in tuition fees, living expenses, and visa requirements. The presenter explains that financial landscapes vary significantly depending on the destination, with some nations offering free education while others impose high costs that are heavily influenced by the student's field of study and nationality. For instance, Australia presents a wide range of costs between $34,000 and $53,000 annually, where living expenses constitute a major portion of the budget, though specific scholarships for Indian students at the University of Sydney can cover full tuition. Similarly, Canada offers a broad spectrum from $20,000 to $65,000 per year, with prices fluctuating based on the university's location and major, while Germany stands out as one of the most affordable options because public universities charge no tuition fees, requiring students only to cover living costs of approximately $13,300 a year.
Several European countries offer unique financial structures that can significantly impact an international student's budget. Italy is notable for charging lower tuition fees to students from developing nations compared to locals or those from wealthy OECD countries, with public university costs ranging from $1,000 to $17,700 annually. Spain provides discounts for students from former colonies and offers substantial scholarships at private institutions like IE University and the University of Salamanca, which can cover up to 100% of tuition. In contrast, France maintains a uniform fee structure for all citizens regardless of origin, while Hungary and the Czech Republic (Cia) present extremely low-cost alternatives with free or very cheap English-taught programs supported by state-sponsored scholarships that often include living stipends, making them ideal for students on tight budgets.
The Nordic region and the United Kingdom represent a mix of high costs and specific eligibility criteria. Sweden charges non-EU citizens between $20,000 and $45,000 annually, whereas Denmark offers free education to EU citizens but requires non-citizens to pay around $20,000 per year, with English programs becoming increasingly limited. Norway's costs range from $20,000 to $60,000 depending on the major, and Finland charges international students between $17,000 and $33,000 annually. The United Kingdom is generally expensive for non-EU students, with annual costs typically falling between $40,000 and $60,000, and even UK citizens must prove they can afford a year of living expenses before receiving a visa. Finally, the United States is described as having a complex pricing system where sticker prices at private universities can reach $90,000, but merit-based scholarships often reduce the actual cost to between $30,000 and $40,000 for most students, with full rides being extremely rare and competitive, primarily available only at Ivy League institutions.
The video concludes with a strong advisory message urging prospective international students to be realistic about their financial situations and not to rely solely on the difficult path of securing full-ride scholarships in the US or UK. The presenter emphasizes that if a student cannot cover living expenses or has limited funds, it may be wiser to consider affordable options in countries like Hungary or Spain where they can work while studying. While applying to prestigious universities is encouraged, students are advised to have a backup plan and explore alternative destinations to avoid the statistical likelihood of rejection. Ultimately, the goal is to help students make informed decisions that balance their aspirations with financial reality, ensuring they can access quality education without being discouraged by the high barriers to entry in certain countries.
Read the full video transcript
hello my people my name is meum I'm your
college counselor and today we're
talking about how much it costs to study
in every country that's worth
considering for you as an international
student all the numbers I'm going to
give today include study costs cost of
living and all the other extra stuff
that one needs in order to study abroad
and we're also going to talk about some
of the scholarship opportunities
available in each destination I'm going
to be giving annual amounts in US dollar
because America created money so let's
get to it Australia I can't do a good
Australian accent so I'm not going to
try for the rest of this paragraph it
ranges between $34,000 a year and about
$53,000 a year a significant portion of
this cost is cost of living because the
Australian government updated its
requirements recently for student visas
you have to show $24,000 Australian
dollars or about 17,000 real dollars in
order to even get your visa scholarships
are available in Australia but they
usually only cover about 20 to 30% of
the tuition cost but quick shout out for
my Indian fans I know there's a lot of
you that watch this channel there's a
huge scholarship at the University of
Sydney for Indian students specifically
that basically covers all of the tuition
expenses so if you can cover your cost
of living definitely check that out
Canadia Canadia has been in the news
recently because a lot of universities
in the Quebec Province are going to see
their prices rise next year but even
with those price hikes those Canadian
universities are not the most expensive
options overall the range is between
about $20,000 and like
$65,000 the prices vary wildly it really
depends on the major that you're going
to choose and also where you're going to
be the more you want to be there the
more you got to pay University of
Toronto for example sits at the high end
of that limit while a more affordable
University in New Finland like Memorial
University would be at the bottom end
Scholarships in Canadia are available
but they are not at every University and
they usually only last one year Germany
Germany is surprisingly one of the most
affordable destinations for
international students because studies
are free for everybody regardless of
where you come from that means you only
have to cover your cost of living which
according to German immigrations is
about ,000 per month so we're talking
about $133,000 a year Italy Italy is a
fascinating case because it's one of the
only countries I've ever seen where
locals may actually pay more than
International students people from
particularly poor countries I'm not
making that up that's literally what
they called them if you're from one of
those countries I'm sorry to inform you
that you are particularly poor people
from those countries actually get to pay
less for their tuition in Italy in
public universities there's a second
list too of non oecd countries so those
people will pay a middle rate in a lot
of cases so the range for public schools
really works out to about $1,000 to
$177,000 per year now there are private
universities like bone that will take
that budget way higher $330,000 a year
to cover your cost of living and to
tuition expenses at a top private
university like that Spain Spanish
universities will generally set you back
about $117,000 a year at public
institutions at private institutions
that goes up to about 20,000 to all the
way up to $35,000 a year however if
you're an international student from one
of Spain's former colonies you can
actually get a discount it's Spain's way
of saying sorry for taking all your gold
private universities on the other hand
could offer bigger scholarships check
out IE University which has up to 7 5%
scholarships although it is still the
most expensive University in the country
so you should also check out the SE San
Pablo University they can offer up to
100% tuition scholarships for qualified
applicants and a handful of public
universities have scholarships too like
the University of Salamanca or highend
okay can you
not like do something
else for about $115,000 a year you can
study in a French Public University
everybody in France pays the same
whether they're European citizens or not
downside is that there are basically no
programs in English Hungary Hungary has
been quietly expanding its options into
English language the total cost ranges
from about $8,000 a year to up to
$20,000 a year which makes hungry an
extremely affordable option cost of
living over there could be as low as
like $600 a month and they can make it
even better with their state sponsored
scholarship the stipendium hungaricum
almost every program in the country is
covered by this stipendium hungaricum
not only cover your tuition expenses but
it also gives you a stipend for your
cost of living so if you're looking for
a full ride scholarship Hungary actually
might be one of your best options Chia
formerly known as the Czech Republic and
home to my great grandmother I think
pretty sure we're not 100% sure but
pretty sure CA a lot like Hungary has
been expanding its options in English as
well very lowkey it's an affordable
place to go studies are free if you want
to study in check but I mean your odds
of being able to learn that language
good enough to be able to study in it
are pretty low but English options range
between about $1,000 and $6,000 per year
for studies the cost of living is also
very cheap typically running about $600
to $800 a month which gives us a range
of about $8 to $133,000 a year so Chi is
a really good option if you're on a low
budget I'm dripping all over the place
it's so hot yall don't know but I'm
still here still doing it for you Sweden
yeah let's start with our Nordic
countries here with Sweden mostly just
cuz I love their website it's so
friendly it's got emojis and it's like
yeah we know some things are expensive
but look some the other ones aren't
Sweden is free if you have a EU passport
or you're a citizen of the EA but
otherwise you're looking at a pretty
expensive range of about $ 20, to
$45,000 per year Denmark Denmark is not
only free if you have EU citizenship but
they actually pay you to study in the
country if you're not a European Citizen
though you don't get paid to study there
and you're going to have to pay about
$20,00 000 a year for your studies and
your cost of living I covered this
before in my how to study in Denmark
video but one thing happened shortly
after that video which I'm sure is
because I made that video like obviously
the government of Denmark is keeping an
eye on this channel I'm sure they're one
of my many subscribers so now your
options in English are a lot more
limited there are still some programs in
international business some engineering
courses a little bit of arts and
actually a lot of music programs Norway
it ranges between about $20,000 a year
for the cheapest Majors all the way up
to like 60 ,000 a year for really
expensive ones but on the bright side
you can study things like Arctic
Adventure tourism so if you've got a
rich dad and you love the cold go to
Norway Finland no not a Finland Finland
is free for EU citizens but it does
charge about 17 to $330,000 a year for
other International students depending
on what you want to study the United
Kingdom at its cheapest studying in the
UK at a smaller University like the
University of Wales is going to cost you
about $322,000 a year but most of the
time it's going to range between $40,000
and about $60,000 a year since leaving
the EU prices in the United Kingdom have
only gone up but even if you have a UK
passport you don't get that discount
automatically you actually have to live
in the country for three full years ukvi
office that handles your Visa process
calls for about 13,000 which is like
$177,000 in real money just to show that
you can afford to live there for a year
UK is really only a recommendable option
if you're like Filthy Rich there are
scholarships but a lot of times they
only last one year and the few full
rides that do exist are just really rare
for undergraduate students I think
that's all the countries um I don't
think I forgot like anything the United
States of
America I didn't save this one for last
to make you watch the video longer cuz I
know you won't anyway I know I'm going
to put chapters and you're going to skip
to this part so if you just got here and
you ignored all the other countries uh
you've already made a mistake you should
have gone back cuz there was a full ride
scholarship in hungry that you totally
missed it's time to talk about the
United States of America and how much it
cost to study there for real the United
States is the hardest system to explain
because there are prices on websites but
those are not usually the price that
you're going to pay at the end of the
process the United States makes you see
one price and then they give you a
different one depending on how much they
like you so public universities are
usually $40 to $60,000 a year private
universities typically start out around
$50,000 a year but can go all the way up
to like $90,000 a year which is insane
there is no undergraduate degree that is
worth $90,000 a year but that's the
sticker price that's the price they want
you to pay but the real price is going
to be a lot lower in practice most
universities public and private are
going to have some kind of scholarship
that they can give you which is
automatically awarded upon a mission the
exact amount will vary depending on your
profile but the truth is you can end up
paying a lot less than what you see on
the website after considering
merit-based Awards most of the time your
average is going to be around 26,000 to
$36,000 a year for a public university
sometimes they'll even give you a
scholarship that exonerates you from
paying the extra outof State rate I
covered a few of those options in a
video I made a while back about outof
state tuition waivers for international
students so that you could pay the same
price as residents do some of those
offers may not be around anymore but you
know do your own research take a look at
the list maybe you'll see some that
interest you private universities in the
US typically give a scholarship to
everybody that applies for example my
student Christina Christina applied to
Pace University Pace University has a
total cost of attendance of about
$72,000 she got a $36,000 a year
scholarship good for four years so it's
like half the listed price I mean how do
you go from
$72,000 to
$36,000 so the only way to find out what
you really got to pay at the end is to
apply and see what happens and then
compare your offers the average person
is going to end up paying between $30 to
$40,000 a year to study in the United
States as an international student if
you're at like $25,000 a year your
options are there they're limited but
they're there I got students from Peru
studying in Texas Tech for less than
that or in Florida International
University with a good SAT score or even
like austa college a private university
that gives out some really big fat
scholarships upon admission but what if
you don't have $25,000 a year to spend
for four years to study in the United
States now I know that a lot of the
people watching this channel come from
particularly poor countries and a lot of
you need huge amounts of financial aid
most of you are searching for full ride
scholarships and I think we need to have
an honest talk about how difficult that
is and what it means for your
opportunities if you cannot cover even
your cost of living like if you have
less than $20,000 a year to spend on
your education you're basic basically
stuck looking for full ride scholarships
now full ride scholarships can be
available at some private universities
for example Illinois tech has a few that
they can give out every year but most of
the time you're going to get this
through financial aid for international
students there are only about 50
universities in the United States that
promise to meet 100% of demonstrated
Financial need for international
students their need aware universities
which means that the more you need the
harder it's going to be to get in a lot
of the smaller liberal arts colleges
just don't have the money to provide a
ton of full rides for international
students so that kind of leaves us with
just a handful of options which are your
Ivy League schools the most prestigious
universities on the planet they have
billions of dollars in their endowments
and they're able to provide full ride
scholarships to everybody they don't but
they could but of course everybody wants
a free ride you know everybody wants a
full ride scholarship so there's
thousands of applicants just like
yourself applying to these universities
and only about 2% of students are going
to get that full ride scholarship so
even if you're an amazing student and
I'm sure you are you're competing
against a ton of other amazing students
I don't want to be discouraging I hate
to be negative on this channel like I
always want to inspire people to try new
things and to give you know studying
abroad a chance but at the same time you
have to be realistic with your
circumstances like if you only have
$5,000 a year it might be smarter to
save up for a year or two go to college
and hungry with a stien for example
example from the government and and get
a great education in a well-developed
country for a fraction of the price it's
going to be a lot easier to do that than
it is to do what you're trying to do in
the United States don't put all your
eggs in the one basket of ivy league
universities it's totally fine to try I
encourage you to do that but you also
need to be realistic with yourself if
you don't have perfect grades and
amazing SAT scores and like an
incredible amount of extracurricular
activities your application is going to
go straight to the garbage even if it is
possible for you I would still encourage
you to have a plan B pretty much
everybody we work with in score for
example who applies to these IV League
schools is also going to apply to a
public university in Spain where they
can work and pay for their studies
because that's a viable option and it's
much easier to get into if you study
hard and get good grades on those tests
you're in it's not like the US where
it's almost like a random chance between
thousands of amazing candidates the goal
here is to help you make good decisions
so that you can go study abroad and get
a better education and make a better
future for yourself and if all you do is
focus on the hardest way to do that
which is ivy league universities full
ride scholarships then you're probably
going to fail most people will fail
statistically speaking 98% of you will
fail I don't want you to be that 98% I
want you to be smarter than that I want
you to consider some of these other
options that we've talked about today
and make a plan for how you might be
able to save up some money or you know
work while you study or learn another
language so you can get access to
cheaper education like there are
opportunities for you if you're willing
to put in the work to get them if I
missed a country that you are interested
in please leave it in the comments below
and let me know because we can talk
about it over there there are more
countries it turns out there's like 190
some countries out there and thank you
for watching this video I really
appreciate your patronage and it's
wonderful to have you here and if you
like this stuff and you want to learn
more about studying abroad subscribe to
the channel have a great day