Anyone considering universities abroad?

[Anonymous]

We are wondering if other families are considering universities abroad, and how this affects your 529 contributions. DH is from South America, but also has European citizenship (I am American), and DD also has U.S and European passports, as well as for her dad's home country. DD is 12, but for a number of reasons, we have been unable to make serious contributions to a 529 plan up to now, and we probably would not qualify for financial aid so that's not an option. Because European and South American schools are much cheaper, and because DH prefers that daughter go to university abroad to have a more international background, we are thinking of not amping up our 529 contributions even though we now can (and several of the schools we're looking at in Europe/SA) are not on the 529 international list.

for those in similar situations....

what are some potential downsides we should be aware of in planning to send DD to europe for university (apart from flight expenses and not having her close)?
in my field, a good degree from europe (sciences po, insead, oxford etc) has as much respect as a johns hopkins or similar school. but if DD goes to an average european school (like university of milan), will this be a strike against her?
will we be kicking ourselves if DD at 17 decides she only wants to go to an american school, and we have no 529 savings for this? Will we have to tap into our retirement savings?
Where should we be saving money for schools if not in a 529?

would love to hear from others who are also thinking about this, and how you are planning.

[Anonymous]

Bump curious about this as well - anyone?

[Anonymous]

Consider saving in a Roth IRA if you will be able to withdraw when she is in school (I believe you can always withdraw the contributions but need to be a certain age to withdraw earnings without penalties. You will have the money set aside tax advantaged but if you did not need it for her schooling you can access without penalty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are wondering if other families are considering universities abroad, and how this affects your 529 contributions. DH is from South America, but also has European citizenship (I am American), and DD also has U.S and European passports, as well as for her dad's home country. DD is 12, but for a number of reasons, we have been unable to make serious contributions to a 529 plan up to now, and we probably would not qualify for financial aid so that's not an option. Because European and South American schools are much cheaper, and because DH prefers that daughter go to university abroad to have a more international background, we are thinking of not amping up our 529 contributions even though we now can (and several of the schools we're looking at in Europe/SA) are not on the 529 international list.

for those in similar situations....

what are some potential downsides we should be aware of in planning to send DD to europe for university (apart from flight expenses and not having her close)?
in my field, a good degree from europe (sciences po, insead, oxford etc) has as much respect as a johns hopkins or similar school. but if DD goes to an average european school (like university of milan), will this be a strike against her?
will we be kicking ourselves if DD at 17 decides she only wants to go to an american school, and we have no 529 savings for this? Will we have to tap into our retirement savings?
Where should we be saving money for schools if not in a 529?

would love to hear from others who are also thinking about this, and how you are planning.

What about what SHE wants to do? Maybe she won't want to go to school abroad for the entire 4 years, maybe she will choose to go here. Seems really selfish to not save for her education and burden her with that debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are wondering if other families are considering universities abroad, and how this affects your 529 contributions. DH is from South America, but also has European citizenship (I am American), and DD also has U.S and European passports, as well as for her dad's home country. DD is 12, but for a number of reasons, we have been unable to make serious contributions to a 529 plan up to now, and we probably would not qualify for financial aid so that's not an option. Because European and South American schools are much cheaper, and because DH prefers that daughter go to university abroad to have a more international background, we are thinking of not amping up our 529 contributions even though we now can (and several of the schools we're looking at in Europe/SA) are not on the 529 international list.

for those in similar situations....

what are some potential downsides we should be aware of in planning to send DD to europe for university (apart from flight expenses and not having her close)?
in my field, a good degree from europe (sciences po, insead, oxford etc) has as much respect as a johns hopkins or similar school. but if DD goes to an average european school (like university of milan), will this be a strike against her?
will we be kicking ourselves if DD at 17 decides she only wants to go to an american school, and we have no 529 savings for this? Will we have to tap into our retirement savings?
Where should we be saving money for schools if not in a 529?

would love to hear from others who are also thinking about this, and how you are planning.

No direct experience but I've heard that the curriculum is more focused in European countries, tougher entrance exam and less to no handholding.

As for expenses, you pay from either a 529 or other savings in the US. Same would apply abroad (I understand that some schools are not eligible for 529 in which case you wouldn't use it). Not sure why you think you'll have to draw from retirement if that's what you would have done anyways if your DD goes to school in the US.

[Anonymous]

We're considering this as well, for similar reasons. Husband is has dual EU/American citizenship and so do our kids. 12 yo DC has no ideas about college yet but we're planning a few visits to potential cities in the next few years to get them excited. No concrete plans yet, and we've put a small amount into 529s but the rest just good old mutual funds so we can be flexible with whatever they decide to do. University prices here are getting insane!

[Anonymous]

The obvious question: which languages does your daughter speak?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are wondering if other families are considering universities abroad, and how this affects your 529 contributions. DH is from South America, but also has European citizenship (I am American), and DD also has U.S and European passports, as well as for her dad's home country. DD is 12, but for a number of reasons, we have been unable to make serious contributions to a 529 plan up to now, and we probably would not qualify for financial aid so that's not an option. Because European and South American schools are much cheaper, and because DH prefers that daughter go to university abroad to have a more international background, we are thinking of not amping up our 529 contributions even though we now can (and several of the schools we're looking at in Europe/SA) are not on the 529 international list.

for those in similar situations....

what are some potential downsides we should be aware of in planning to send DD to europe for university (apart from flight expenses and not having her close)?
in my field, a good degree from europe (sciences po, insead, oxford etc) has as much respect as a johns hopkins or similar school. but if DD goes to an average european school (like university of milan), will this be a strike against her?
will we be kicking ourselves if DD at 17 decides she only wants to go to an american school, and we have no 529 savings for this? Will we have to tap into our retirement savings?
Where should we be saving money for schools if not in a 529?

would love to hear from others who are also thinking about this, and how you are planning.

What about what SHE wants to do? Maybe she won't want to go to school abroad for the entire 4 years, maybe she will choose to go here. Seems really selfish to not save for her education and burden her with that debt.

SHE can still do what she wants. She can take an option that her parents can afford or go with her won choice and finance it herself.
My parents could only pay for public college in-state tuition for me. I wanted to go a a private university. I took what my parents had and used a combination of part time jobs and loans to finance the difference.

[Anonymous]

Currently overseas, and DS (12) doesn’t feel especially keen to return to the US. At the same time, I don’t see him becoming fluent enough in the local language that he could survive a college course. So I think he will wind up in the UK or Ireland, or an English language based school elsewhere, like Insead, but that’s grad level only.

We are 3 yrs from qualifying for citizenship here, which would mean DS could apply as an EU passport holder & resident. Note that I’ve been finding that UK/Scottish schools base fees on passport *and* residency. U of Edinburgh, for example, determines your fee status based on passport and country of residency for 3 consecutive years prior to application. If you didn’t live in the EU but hold an EU passport, you could still find yourself paying 18,800 (overseas) vs 1,820 (home) due to the lack of residency status. You can’t just assume you get the lowest rate based on ppt.

In the meanwhile, we’ve built up ~300k in a 529 plan for him, which will be beyond overkill if he doesn’t return to the states. We are using some of that now for private school, but it it doesn’t put much of a dent in it. Figure if he doesn’t need it for undergrad, we can just keep it there in case he wants to do a graduate program or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Currently overseas, and DS (12) doesn’t feel especially keen to return to the US. At the same time, I don’t see him becoming fluent enough in the local language that he could survive a college course. So I think he will wind up in the UK or Ireland, or an English language based school elsewhere, like Insead, but that’s grad level only.

We are 3 yrs from qualifying for citizenship here, which would mean DS could apply as an EU passport holder & resident. Note that I’ve been finding that UK/Scottish schools base fees on passport *and* residency. U of Edinburgh, for example, determines your fee status based on passport and country of residency for 3 consecutive years prior to application. If you didn’t live in the EU but hold an EU passport, you could still find yourself paying 18,800 (overseas) vs 1,820 (home) due to the lack of residency status. You can’t just assume you get the lowest rate based on ppt.

In the meanwhile, we’ve built up ~300k in a 529 plan for him, which will be beyond overkill if he doesn’t return to the states. We are using some of that now for private school, but it it doesn’t put much of a dent in it. Figure if he doesn’t need it for undergrad, we can just keep it there in case he wants to do a graduate program or something.

I went to school in Germany and many US employers balked at my degree, as if it didn't qualify (it all worked out in the end). School is "free" in germany, but room and board is not. Kids are on their own to find housing in the community and it can ver very expensive and it is very difficult to work. I cannot speak to any country other than Germany, but there is no fun at German school. It is all work, no play. No way would my American kids consider it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are wondering if other families are considering universities abroad, and how this affects your 529 contributions. DH is from South America, but also has European citizenship (I am American), and DD also has U.S and European passports, as well as for her dad's home country. DD is 12, but for a number of reasons, we have been unable to make serious contributions to a 529 plan up to now, and we probably would not qualify for financial aid so that's not an option. Because European and South American schools are much cheaper, and because DH prefers that daughter go to university abroad to have a more international background, we are thinking of not amping up our 529 contributions even though we now can (and several of the schools we're looking at in Europe/SA) are not on the 529 international list.

for those in similar situations....

what are some potential downsides we should be aware of in planning to send DD to europe for university (apart from flight expenses and not having her close)?
in my field, a good degree from europe (sciences po, insead, oxford etc) has as much respect as a johns hopkins or similar school. but if DD goes to an average european school (like university of milan), will this be a strike against her?
will we be kicking ourselves if DD at 17 decides she only wants to go to an american school, and we have no 529 savings for this? Will we have to tap into our retirement savings?
Where should we be saving money for schools if not in a 529?

would love to hear from others who are also thinking about this, and how you are planning.

What about what SHE wants to do? Maybe she won't want to go to school abroad for the entire 4 years, maybe she will choose to go here. Seems really selfish to not save for her education and burden her with that debt.

SHE can still do what she wants. She can take an option that her parents can afford or go with her won choice and finance it herself.
My parents could only pay for public college in-state tuition for me. I wanted to go a a private university. I took what my parents had and used a combination of part time jobs and loans to finance the difference.

By OPs own admission she can save now, but sounds like she doesn't want to. Yes, she would be burdening her child with education costs because she wanted to skip saving, despite having the ability to.

I too have saved for state school, my kids can also take loans and go out of state. However I would never make assumptions my kids would want to go to school in South America or Spain to save me money and abandon a proper college savings.

[Anonymous]

I would begin saving. In the future you want to have options. English universities for example are pretty expensive already for overseas students (which they will be even with EU or UK passport.

Also bear in mind they may decide to stay in the country where they study.

We are considering this for our kids but are saving anyway in case...

[Anonymous]

I have a European degree. it was super cheap and many schools now offer degrees in English, especially in Germany. that said going to A regular US high school, your daughter may not be prepared for the rigor or lack of tutoring/assistance that we have in US schools. Maybe the UK, but I would caution against the continent.

[Anonymous]

http://www.studyinestonia.ee/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are wondering if other families are considering universities abroad, and how this affects your 529 contributions. DH is from South America, but also has European citizenship (I am American), and DD also has U.S and European passports, as well as for her dad's home country. DD is 12, but for a number of reasons, we have been unable to make serious contributions to a 529 plan up to now, and we probably would not qualify for financial aid so that's not an option. Because European and South American schools are much cheaper, and because DH prefers that daughter go to university abroad to have a more international background, we are thinking of not amping up our 529 contributions even though we now can (and several of the schools we're looking at in Europe/SA) are not on the 529 international list.

for those in similar situations....

what are some potential downsides we should be aware of in planning to send DD to europe for university (apart from flight expenses and not having her close)?
in my field, a good degree from europe (sciences po, insead, oxford etc) has as much respect as a johns hopkins or similar school. but if DD goes to an average european school (like university of milan), will this be a strike against her?
will we be kicking ourselves if DD at 17 decides she only wants to go to an american school, and we have no 529 savings for this? Will we have to tap into our retirement savings?
Where should we be saving money for schools if not in a 529?

would love to hear from others who are also thinking about this, and how you are planning.

We are in a very situation here, and decided to fully fund 529 because 1) most if not all top universities abroad are recognized in the 529 list, 2) there's always grad school to think about, and at that level US universities are worth it.