College at $134,000 a year is driving more US students to Europe

NEW YORK – As the sticker price of an education at top US colleges pushes towards six figures at US$100,000 (S$134,000), a growing number of students are packing their bags in search of more bang for their buck. 

European universities often charge less for tuition and offer degrees in under four years, adding to the savings. In Britain, the number of applications from US students doubled in the past decade, while the Netherlands has seen a nearly 50 per cent rise in the last five years. Spain and France are also seeing more interest, according to consultants.

The growing allure of European colleges comes as millions of US students struggling to pay off their education loans and families increasingly question whether high-priced degrees are worth it, particularly at less renowned schools. And at a time when acceptance rates at Ivy League schools and other elite colleges have plunged, there is often less stress when applying to overseas universities. 

Mr Jamie Beaton, co-founder of college consulting company Crimson Education, said Britain is particularly popular among his clients these days and that a lot of interest is coming from students who are “travel savvy”.

“It’s a rapidly growing minority, especially given how competitive US college admissions are,” he said.

Costs, culture

Studying abroad full-time remains a niche path. There were nearly 23,000 Americans enrolled in British universities in 2024, up from roughly 17,000 in 2019 – that compares with about 60,000 undergraduate students who attend Ohio State University.

For some families, there is cultural appeal in sending their child to Europe for school, and it can add flair to a resume. The divisive political climate in the United States has also been a factor pushing some students to look abroad, according to Ms Kristin Hamaker, chief college adviser at US-based college consultancy Beyond the States.

Mr Stephen Friedfeld, co-founder of the college counseling firm AcceptU, said he too has seen a noticeable uptick in American students interested in Britain. Applying to schools abroad is often more straightforward and transparent, which removes some stress from the process, he said.

In many cases, the cost savings are also hard to ignore. The average annual tuition fee for foreign students in Britain is about US$30,000; it is roughly US$46,000 at St Andrews in Scotland, the top destination for US students in Britain. 

At Oxford, undergraduate courses in English literature for international pupils cost US$52,000 a year. That is relatively expensive in European terms but still less than most private colleges in the US.

In France, tuition can be as as little as US$3,000 a year, while in the Netherlands, where the University of Amsterdam draws thousands of applications each year, the cost is between US$6,200 and US$15,000.

At Bucknell in Pennsylvania and Colgate in New York, for example, tuition is about US$65,000 a year, with room and board bringing the cost up north of US$80,000.

Many students in the US, of course, receive financial aid to defray their college costs, and state schools have long offered subsidised tuition for residents. Still, at a time when inflation has crimped family finances, the college savings available in Europe are drawing more attention.

Ms Cristi Viera, a 49-year-old former professor from North Carolina is weighing overseas education for her children. Her 20-year-old daughter, Victoria, is studying communications at Rutgers, helped by a scholarship. But she is thinking of getting her master’s degree in Spain, where her family relocated to in September. She is also considering the Netherlands, Ireland and Germany.

Ms Viera’s 16-year-old daughter, Mia, wants to study medicine at an international college in Italy. Programmes typically cost about US$3,100, compared with US$60,000 in the US, and she will be able to practise medicine back home afterwards.

“Considering how the cost of living has increased exponentially in the United States and how much tuition has increased over the past few decades, the finances really play an important part in that decision making,” Ms Viera said.

Some countries are starting to push back against the influx of Americans and other international students, not keen on having overseas residents take advantage of taxpayer-funded education only to move away once their studies are complete or take spots from locals. The Netherlands, for example, has looked to put quotas on programmes in English.

In Britain, the Labour government has vowed to retain a ban on international students bringing dependents to the country. At the other end of the spectrum, Spain has welcomed foreign students. IE University, a business school in Madrid known for its graduate programmes, has benefited from that approach, with the number of US students nearly doubling in the past four years, provost Manuel Muniz said.

“Spain, thankfully, has remained a very open education space and we’ve been able to conduct our programmes entirely in English,” he said.

Ms Jackie Baxa, a 54-year-old lifestyle blogger from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and her husband set aside roughly US$300,000 for their two sons to attend college and tasked them with finding good schools, while keeping costs in mind. Gavin, 21, is studying culinary entrepreneurship at Technological University Dublin, where the cost is about US$28,000 a year. 

Ms Baxa’s younger son, 17-year-old Kaden, is eyeing programmes in Italy. He will also likely have money left over in the fund that he can use to start a business, or even save for a down payment on a house.

“He wants to have a good experience and not waste his time or money,” she said. Bloomberg