Getting a foreign degree is not just taking admission in a foreign university, but from getting a passport and visa to arranging finances to getting scholarships, if possible, a person has to take care of everything in advance while planning for expensive foreign education.
“Living abroad can be quite expensive if your home country currency is of a lower value than the currency of the country of education, especially when including primary living costs like accommodation and meals,” said Ashwini Kumar, General Manager (India) and Vice President, MPOWER Financing.
Moreover, apart from tuition fee, there are several expenses associated with studying abroad – like room rent, fooding etc.
“Other costs are around living essentials like public transportation, a decent laptop, internet, phone, international calling, government IDs, wear / tear / replacement / repair of any of their goods (be it clothing, phone, general home appliances, laptop, etc), library memberships and professional affiliations, winter clothing (including bedding) based on states, some cities may require you to have your own transportation like a car / motorbike / just a bicycle, some costs factored for socializing over coffee / dinner with friends and alumni Many students don’t factor expenses around networking and professional certifications,” said Kumar.
“For example, finance students considering a CFA can easily expect to spend close to $4000 on exams and books, staggered over a couple of years. A major career conference could easily cost up to $1500-$2000 for registration, hotel, travel, etc. And there are probably a few of those that one wants to attend. If students are planning trips back to their home country even once a year, that could add up a couple of thousand dollars,” he added.
So, one should start investing well in advance keeping in mind the huge pre-budget expenses involved and the prospective student should also try for scholarships.
“Students should therefore consider the full cost of their education: and not factor for just tuition, rent and meals, how much will it cost them to get to graduation? But on the flip-side, they should consider all sources of funding available, including through co-op, scholarships, graduate student stipends and part-time employment. These costs are not to be afraid of but to get students to be better prepared,” said Kumar.
