Reply to Are We Crazy for Questioning a $250k US Degree and looking abroad?

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Reply to "Are We Crazy for Questioning a $250k US Degree and looking abroad?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous] I realize this is an old, reactivated thread, but anyone who thinks it is always cheaper overseas should check online before jumping in. St. Andres is now $66,000 a year for international students, so $264K (not including airfare) and Oxford is now $81,765 pounds, so x 3 years.  A better option is to do state flagship for undergrad and grad overseas. [/quote]

First of all NOBODY here (just ready the whole thread) insisted or said [b]that it is  “ always cheaper overseas “.   You are the first one that said that.
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Clearly you are you quite grasping the point being made here by a lot of people. The avg kid going to St Andrews or elsewhere in the UK or Europe is NOT the same kid that is forgoing their state flagship to do so. Please…..different universes…..these kids are kids that likely going to be full pay at T100 US privates.  Don’t be naive. [/quote]

Po is correctly responding to OP’s claims: “the pros are still massive. The most obvious is the cost, which is just staggering. We're talking about the potential to get a degree for a price that's less than a single year at some private US colleges. The math is pretty compelling: with many EU public universities having tuition at a fraction of US schools, the savings are life-changing. Specially if you are able to invest that savings on behalf of your kids for when they graduate.” [/quote]

And there is nothing wrong with OP claims…even at this exchange rate, it is still true. A place like [b]Exeter at 24k Pounds[/b] x 3 years (73k pounds) is still less than $100k dollars..and you get your degree…..

PP cherry-picked two schools to make a point (with one being a 4-yr degree) and even then. Still cheaper that ANY top 100 Private full pay uni in the US. As a PP mentioned, there very little IF ANY crossover between in state flagship uni applicants and kids who go abroad….noen of these kids are making these decisions (maybe. Tiny percentage). I have had 3 kids study in the UK from California. None of them had friends that made decisions to attend their UK school that were forgoing a State Flagship to do so. Different crowds….whether you like it or not.[/quote]

And you are cherry picking as well. That is tuition ONLY for Exeter accounting, the cheapest tuition as you know, because you went to this list and picked it. However, we all can see that Exeter fees can go as high as $38k+ pounds a year plus then you have to tack on accommodations, fees, books, travel, etc, which is a separate Exeter tab altogether. Others here are providing he sensible “all-in” fee. You do sound like a cantankerous nutter who has to fight about everything. Just stop or go take a drink. https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/fees/[/quote]

Not at all. My kids are in humanities and business. SO that is what I focus on. The vast majority of these are under [b]25k pounds. [/b]You are not medicine there, so if STEM you will be at 30k pounds. Even with room and board and the fact it is 3 years you are still MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than ANY US Private school full pay.[/quote]

Tuition only [/quote]

Argue all you want. Show me on Private US university in the top 100 that is equivalent in total pricing for a degree to a school like Exeter or Warwick or Bristol or Durham ?? You wont be able to because it doesnt exist.[/quote]

Top privates in US give generous aid. Yale for example waves tuition for all families making under 200k. Similarly ranked privates are need based and comparably generous.

A family making >200k a year should have saved money for their kids college, so it won’t be a major drag on family finances. But if money is the main concern then well regarded state flagships will be cheaper and arguably better.

UK universities are public schools, it’s silly to flat out reject the comparison with public US colleges and only compare with privates.[/quote]

This doesn't answer the PP's question.  Just because a family making 200K+ a year, should be capable of paying 90k/year in tuition, according to your opinion, doesn't mean they want to do so, if cheaper comparable opportunities abroad exist.[/quote]

The decision on what college to attend depends first on getting in, cost, available money,  educational quality, career opportunities and many other factors.

If you’re looking at cheaper comparable (comparable to what?) opportunities abroad than also look at cheaper comparable opportunities in state. When this is brought up, the UK cheerleaders are nope, you can’t do that, only US private full pay vs UK is an allowed comparison, which is both silly and pointless.
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+1. It’s so weird how dug in some people are getting about this. If you care this much about costs then you care about costs, plain and simple, and you have options domestically too. Even OOS publics can save money in many cases for a full pay family.

Part of this is that there are a lot of private school families here where going abroad is about saving face/bragging to the other private school parents when the T20 door closes, rather than the money itself (or, god forbid, the actual academic programming and opportunities). The cognitive dissonance kicks in when people mention going to a public school because, no, couldn’t possibly consider that idea, imagine telling Sara’s mom that’s what we’re doing, why would you suggest such a thing?[/quote]

100% agree. A lot of these UK universities posters are chasing prestige at deep discounts. The kid can’t make it to top 20 in US, and/or they don’t have money saved for college.

Then they are checking the sales rack in search of a good deal, after all Cambridge, Oxford are on the same level as Top 20. But the chances of getting in after T20 rejection are inexistent.

Next they go down the list to Leeds, Essex and Aberdeen, prestige is in short supply, but a least they clam to be savvy shoppers because they saved on cost. Never mind that costs are not exactly rock bottom and the savings are $10-20k a year at best. And that’s at the cost of being in another country, doing internships overseas if even allowed, building a network in another country etc. If the intent is to return to US after graduation, that’s not ideal, and in my view it’s not worth the savings.

Its better to go to a solid state school, aim for Top 20 in grad school if that’s your thing.[/quote]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a kid and a parent that sends their kid to the UK if they dont get in to a Top 20 or so and end up at Durham, UCL, Kings, St Andrews instead….is that a problem? I dont think so. [/quote]

Some kids are adventurous, and would be better served by being a pioneer at a 2nd tier UK school or an EU university than by going to their state flagship (along with half their high school friends).

Vive la difference! [/quote]

[b]Yes, but that’s different than claiming that you are choosing based on cost and then flipping out when someone suggests a flagship and claiming that no one would do that.[/quote][/b]

+1. And arguing endlessly about it long after everyone else has left the thread.[/quote]

It’s fine to look, apply and decide to go to college in another country. It’s another thing to pretend it’s so much cheaper or better.

It’s just an option, and if one looks into it it’s not that different than what’s available at home in US, in terms of money, prestige or career opportunities.[/quote]

Nobody here is saying it is better. But if you remove Scotland and the London schools, you can still get a much cheaper total price at a place like Durham, Exeter, Manchester, etc.

Exeter for instance is 25k tuition for most Humanities/business/etc plus 10k for room/board. That totals 35k pounds x 3 = 105k pounds. That is 141k dollars with Feb 23 2026 exchange rates.  That is equivalent to $35k dollars per year in a US university. Very few Out of State publics charge that little for Tuition/Room and Board.[/quote]

Are you taking financial aid in consideration, did you run a net price calculator?

A lot of the “savings” are coming from the undergraduate degree being 3 years instead of 4, but you’re getting education for only three years. You need to have taken many advanced courses, equivalent to APs that also get US college credit and potentially shorten the time to graduate. If you’re not well prepared, I’m not sure a three year degree is advisable.

Look at the tuition alone, 25k ponds is $35k. Sticker price tuition in US for OOS and privates is about $70k, but if you run a cost estimate for a family making $200k a year with $2M in assets, tuition is roughly $40k. Not sure Durham is that great of a deal if you take this into consideration.

The issue is people in this thread massage the numbers to make it seem that UK colleges are so much cheaper when that’s simply not the case. Even then, taking a riskier, less beaten path to save $50k in college cost is not wise in my view. Consider the internship opportunities, name recognition, what you want to do after graduation etc.

Again if cost is the main driver, then go in state. If you’re counting every dollar you’re not looking at privates and out of state. Guaranteed that in state tuition is far less than $35k a year, and likely has a better name recognition than Durham or Exeter for US employers.[/quote]

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