Transfering to a European University
December 4, 2004 12:07 PM   Subscribe

I'm currently a university student in the US, and I'm seriously considering to transferring to a uni overseas. I know all about study abroad programs, but my school isn't very good with them. What would be the cost for an American to go to school in, say, Germany? How hard is it to permanently transfer to a university in Western Europe?
posted by borkingchikapa to Education (6 answers total)
 
It would be very expensive to come to the UK if you didn't have a scholarship. The falling dollar hurts so much. Hopefully someone else will know about Germany.

Don't expect your previous coursework to transfer over...
posted by grouse at 12:24 PM on December 4, 2004


In the UK costs for non-EU students are £10k-£20k a year, depending on the course. Pretty damn pricey. For a 3 year course, could be as much as ~$120k for the whole course.
posted by Orange Goblin at 2:25 PM on December 4, 2004


In the UK costs for non-EU students are £10k-£20k a year, depending on the course. Pretty damn pricey. For a 3 year course, could be as much as ~$120k for the whole course.

Thats expensive but in the same range as many private universities in the US. A four year undergraduate degree at Carnegie Mellon University would cost you about $150K. I'm going to grad school there but my employer is paying for it; I can't imagine spending that much on an undergraduate degree.
posted by octothorpe at 6:46 PM on December 4, 2004


You can do a WHOLE lot via study abroad programs. A friend of mine says that SUNY (State University of New York, I believe) has a ton of them. Going abroad is the bee's knees, as far as I'm concerned. I spent some time in Cambridge, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Good luck!
posted by Medieval Maven at 8:54 PM on December 4, 2004


Northern Europe is worth considering as higher education is highly subsidised and even for international students, the tuition costs are cheap. For example, I have seen Masters courses which are 100 euros/subject (with say 4 or 5 subjects a semester required).

Although Northern Europe also has a reputation for a high cost of living, many things besides tuition are subsidised for students. For example, as part of my law degree, I am going to a Finnish university for a semester. My furnished housing will cost about 220 euros/month. Meals at the student cafeterias are about 3 euros. Transport is subsidised.

However, it is probably easier to arrange as an independent (rather than exchange) student for graduate study as while most Masters courses are taught in English, not so many undergraduate degrees are. But it is possible, you'd need to look around - this will be an issue anywhere in Europe - some do the lot in English and others in their local language. Others will let you do most studies in English, but you will also need to pass a course in the local language.

Most countries have government funded centres responsible for promoting their education system to international students, look for these at Study in Europe which has links for many of the European countries.
posted by AnnaRat at 1:43 AM on December 5, 2004


Sorry, just to clarify the above, I meant to say it is easier to arrange independent study as a graduate rather than undergraduate. It is equally easy to do as an exchange student.
posted by AnnaRat at 1:45 AM on December 5, 2004


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