More American college students are leaving the United States for college than ever before.
A report from the Institute of International Education shows that the amount of students studying abroad increased 72 percent from 2000 to 2014. Another report shows that the number of students that choose to attend a four-year university in another country rose 463 percent from 1975 to 2012. The rise in education overseas is largely due to the huge difference in cost. We can all agree that our current and future spending habits and debt result from the exorbitant tuition rates of our nation’s universities.
Bloomberg Business gives the account of Michael Ferrante, a recent graduate of Johns Hopkins University, who discovered how cheap studying in Germany was. He reportedly spent $500 on two semesters at a university in Berlin, compared to $27,000, with financial aid, at Johns Hopkins. The same article says that forty colleges in Europe offer free bachelor’s degrees, and they’re even taught in English. Almost 100 other colleges ask for roughly $4,000 per year. That sounds like a dream to all of our Sally Mae-fogged minds.
There are some negative aspects to attending college abroad. Bloomberg points out that American colleges have the perks of on-campus residence halls and dining facilities, which most European schools do not. And depending on the cost of living around the university, a student enrolled abroad could be spending more than they would in the U.S. Despite the drawbacks, if you love traveling, the opportunity to attend a university abroad for much cheaper, is, well, priceless.