Studying Abroad in Europe

Every year thousands of American and Asian students leave their countries in pursuit of better, and sometimes, much cheaper high education. Leaving your home country is a great challenge, but studying abroad can be turned into a real adventure while earning a degree from prestigious schools around the world can give people a competitive edge when they seek employment.

We’re going to take look at the main reasons why teenagers from North America and Asia decide to come to Europe and enroll in universities. Also, we will learn which European countries host most foreign students and which fields of study are most popular with foreigners in Europe. Most importantly, we will try to compare the prices overall studying price in Europe and the U.S. and try to come up with a conclusion about whether studying abroad really pays off.

Facts first

Almost 350.000 U.S. students studied abroad in the 2017/2018 school year according to the Open doors project data. Data tells us that most of them went to schools in Europe. As much as 55 percent of all U.S. students that went abroad came to Europe.

Americans are not the only ones who see Europe as the higher education hotspot. For example, official Eurostat data shows that China (including Hong Kong) was the most common country of origin for tertiary students from abroad in European Union in 2017, accounting for 11.2 % of the total. As much as 30 percent of foreign students in Europe during the same year were in fact from Asia. This speaks of the popularity Europe has among Asian students looking to get an education outside their countries.

Why should people study abroad?

Young Americans must be very up to date with one. For them, studying in Europe could be a lot cheaper than staying home.

Germany is one of the most popular countries to study in Europe, and in 2017, it had almost 260.000 foreign students. In almost the whole country non-EU students would pay as little as 3.500$ tuition fees per year. Add an average yearly cost of living of almost 12.000$ and that’s already cheaper than the average out-of-state tuition at a public university in the U.S., which comes at almost 24.000$. This is just a big picture, but Germany is not one of the cheap European countries. Take the Chech Republic as an example. In a picturesque Central European country, English language programs cost around 4.000$ per year. The cost of living is way lower compared to some of the western European countries like the UK, Belgium or Nederlands. With a cost of living starting at 5.400$ a year, it’s clear how cheap can Europe get compared to the U.S. when it comes to higher education.

If the price is what really matters to you the most, here’s the list with European countries where studying comes to a real bargain.

Money is not the only reason why people study abroad. This experience often leads to learning at least one new language, and maybe the biggest advantage for people who went abroad is landing a job after college way more easier.

Quality of education is sure a thing that can be discussed and it varies from one university to another, but the numbers of foreign students can tell a story about a good education. The world university ranking for 2019 shows us that as many as 19 out of the top 25 universities with the most students from abroad are located in Europe, most of them in the U.K.

If it’s not about the money or let’s call it a price-quality ratio, extra reasons for studying abroad could be a variety of different studying programs and universities to choose from. European universities offer studies in English, and some data shows that there could be more than 300 universities in Europe offering studies in English.

If none of the above-mentioned is strong enough reasons to pack your bags and embark on the journey than the ease of admission to studies can be a reason to get you going. With so many different universities offering studies to foreigners in English the admission system is not even similar to American. In most cases, there are more free spaces than foreign students, so enrolling is easy.

What do foreigners study

If you ever consider studying in Europe you should know what are the main field of studies students from abroad are enrolling. Roughly, most of the tertiary students were learning about business, administration and law. Data shows that as much as a quarter of abroad students are enrolled in programs that cover the above-mentioned areas. Second in line are the students who are looking to get a degree in engineering, manufacturing and construction. They are followed by people who seek to learn about the arts and humanities. All of these fields stand for 56 percent of all students coming to Europe from abroad.

Which European countries are most popular for students who come from abroad

Knowing which European countries have the most students from abroad can come in handy when deciding where to move. So, here’s a list of countries where the share of students is the biggest. First up is Luxemburg, a small Grand Dutchy with only 600.000 inhabitants. In fact, this country had almost 50 percent of foreign students. Luxemburg is followed by the U.K. which quarter of all students come from abroad. Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Cyprus, Belgium are further on this list.

The conclusion

Let’s once more go over the reasons why people mainly from the U.S. and Asia consider studying in Europe.

Enrolling in the university in Europe is an adventure where you get the chance to explore a new culture, travel, learn a new language. As we saw, studying in Europe can be much cheaper than in the U.S. and the enrolment process is much less complicated in Europe when looking at English programs.

Europe is a hub for foreign students, some of the countries have the same number of domestic and foreign students which guaranties that foreigners are welcomed well.

Last but not least, there are so much diversity and so many universities to choose from. Everyone will find the program for themselves.