Understand Your Expenses as an International Student
Finances play a key role when planning to study abroad. It is important to ensure that your tuition fees and living expenses fit within your budget. Countries like Australia, Canada, and the UK require financial proof during the student visa process to confirm that you can manage your education and living costs.
Your main expenses include:
- Tuition fees
- Accommodation and living costs
- Food, travel, and personal expenses
- Health insurance and visa fees
Study Abroad Cost Breakdown
Understand the major expenses of studying abroad, including fees, living costs, and scholarships.
Universities usually charge an application processing fee. This fee amount will depend on the university. In some cases, universities may waive application fees. Some universities don’t charge application fees at all!
A couple of universities with no application fee for international students include:
- Queen Mary University of London – UK
- Coventry University – UK
- Bond University – Australia
- University of South Australia – Australia
Tuition fees are the amount you pay each semester for your course, often including additional administrative charges (such as international student services).
Note: Always check fees for international students, as they are usually higher than domestic student fees.
Tuition fees make up a major part of study-abroad expenses and can vary between universities within the same country due to several factors.
- Ownership: A private university may charge higher tuition fees compared to a public or state university.
- Size of the University: The bigger the university – in terms of physical size, student and faculty size, reputation, research output, etc. – the higher you can expect tuition fees to be for its programs.
- The University’s Location: Typically, the higher the cost of living in the city, the higher tuition fees will tend to be. The lower the cost of living – for example, in less urban, metropolitan cities – the lower tuition fees are likely to be.
- Location Within the City: Generally, the closer to the city center the university, the higher tuition fees are likely to be. The more suburban the area, the lower the tuition fees are likely to be
The next major factor after tuition fees is your living expenses. When studying abroad, you need to budget for essentials like accommodation, food, transport, utilities, and other daily costs.
Your overall cost of living will typically include the following components:
- Rent
- Utilities (including things like electricity and water bills)
- Groceries & meal plans
- Transport
- Mobile phone bills
- Social activities
Like tuition fees, the cost of living varies broadly even within a single country. Your living expenses may vary depending on factors such as:
- Whether you live on- or off-campus
- Whether you live close to the city center (the closer to the city center you are, the higher rent and other costs are likely to be)
- Your lifestyle
- Whether you live in a major metropolis or a more suburban area
Scholarships are a major reason study costs differ for international students. Universities offer them to attract global talent, and they may fully or partially cover tuition and living expenses.
They can be merit-based or need-based—some are automatic with admission, while others require a separate application.
Common options include:
- University scholarships by
- study level
- subject area
- sociodemographic factors, e.g., nationality, gender, ethnicity
- Third-party scholarships such as:
- Fulbright Scholarship
- Chevening Scholarship
- Erasmus Mundus Scholarship
- GREAT Scholarship
- Commonwealth Scholarship
- Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
- Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP)
- Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation Scholarships
