Spending a semester or year studying in another country has become a rite of passage for many American college students. Besides an immersion into a host country’s culture, history, politics, and cuisine, U.S. students can explore neighboring countries as well as gain a different perspective on America during their time abroad.
As great as the opportunity is to study overseas, some countries are more affordable for students, domestic and international, who are under pressure to stretch their dollars, pounds, or euros. (In the U.S., these are the cities where a college education pays off the most.)
To determine the cheapest countries to get a college education, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed cost components from Global Student Costs, a report compiled by DealA, a Singapore-based free coupon website for online shoppers. For each country, DealA averaged normalized scores given to each cost component, arriving at an overall student cost score, with those with higher numbers being less expensive.
Of the 12 countries on our list, Turkey and Poland are the two most affordable options.
Turkey has the lowest annual living expenses of any country on the list at $5,838, which is more than $2,400 less than second-least expensive Malaysia. Turkey’s university accommodation cost of $42 annually is by far the lowest of any nation on the list. Turkey is astride Europe and Asia and has a rich culture and one of the most interesting histories of any country.
Poland is a very good deal for students as well. Its monthly transportation pass cost is $9.30, the only country whose costs are below $10. Poland’s average university accommodation expense is $167 per year, the second-lowest of any country on the list. Among its institutions of higher learning is Jagiellonian University in Cracow, the oldest university in Poland, founded in 1364. (These are the oldest universities in the world.)
As for other incentives to study elsewhere, Germany, Austria, and Finland have no minimum public undergraduate tuition fees for international students.
Click here to see the cheapest country to get a college education
Click here to read our detailed methodology
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12. Japan
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $50.24
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $270
> Public tuition fees (home students): $5,229
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $7,200
> Overall student cost score: 5.52/10
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11. China
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $20.00
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $400
> Public tuition fees (home students): $2,200
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $4,700
> Overall student cost score: 5.92/10
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10. Austria
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $55.82
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $447
> Public tuition fees (home students): $914
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $0
> Overall student cost score: 6.16/10
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9. Denmark
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $55.82
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $335
> Public tuition fees (home students): $0
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $8,000
> Overall student cost score: 6.32/10
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8. Malaysia
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $22.33
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $285
> Public tuition fees (home students): $8,276
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $1,691
> Overall student cost score: 6.48/10
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7. South Africa
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $39.07
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $279
> Public tuition fees (home students): $1,675
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $5,339
> Overall student cost score: 6.56/10
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6. Germany
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $223.28
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $279
> Public tuition fees (home students): $0
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $0
> Overall student cost score: 6.72/10
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5. Italy
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $50.24
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $335
> Public tuition fees (home students): $1,658
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $1,200
> Overall student cost score: 6.88/10
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4. Finland
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $55.82
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $424
> Public tuition fees (home students): $0
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $0
> Overall student cost score: 6.96/10
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3. Mexico
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $22.33
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $435
> Public tuition fees (home students): $252
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $360
> Overall student cost score: 7.6/10
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2. Poland
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $9.30
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $167
> Public tuition fees (home students): $0
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $2,362
> Overall student cost score: 8.24/10
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1. Turkey
> Average cost of monthly transportation pass (with student discount where available): $30.14
> Average annual cost of student accommodation: $42
> Public tuition fees (home students): $0
> Minimum public tuition fees (international students): $616
> Overall student cost score: 9.2/10
Methodology
To determine the cheapest countries to get a college education, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed Global Student Costs, a report compiled by DealA, a Singapore-based free coupon website for online shoppers. The site sourced a list of colleges from College News, Educations, Studee, and Statista.
DealA sourced the maximum average cost of a monthly transportation pass by country (with student discount where available) from Masters Portal and Transport for London. For Poland, the average cost of a six-month semester pass was divided by six. The maximum average cost of college-owned or on-campus accommodation per year in each country was sourced from Masters Portal.
The website sourced minimum annual public tuition fees for international students for each country from Education Data and, where unavailable from Finder. Public tuition for national students are for the academic year 2015-16 and were sourced from OECD Library or, where unavailable, from Masters Portal, Top Universities, and various country-specific sites. DealA converted costs in various countries from local currency to U.S. dollars using the Xe Currency Converter on March 30, 2022.
DealA gave each state a normalized score out of 10 points for each of the criteria, then calculated the average score out of 10 for each one to arrive at an overall student cost score, with those with higher numbers being less expensive.
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