Tuition fees for studying abroad???????? HELP!!!

realitybites

Tuition fees for studying abroad????????

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Hi, I am hoping someone can help me. My daughter is insisting on going to Australia to study. She has a letter of acceptance to the uni she wanted so are only now starting to sort it all out (have only found out, 3 days ago she has been accepted). Unfortunately I do not know where to start about getting a loan for her tuition fees, living costs etc. She has temporary accomodation arranged so short term she should be ok on that front. I have tried going through the threads pertaining to student loans but the vast majority seem to be biased towards in country funding. Any help would be very welcome.
Thanks

anewman

I would recommend contacting the University as a starting point. They will be the ones to make money from it so should be happy to help. Hopefully someone will be more knowledgeable than me. All I know is if someone from abroad comes to the UK to study the fees are so much more.

I would start assuming there will be no loan and you will have to pay fees with no assistance as being worst case scenario.

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Explore_working_and_studying_abroad/Country_specific_information/Australia/Job_market/p!elkegb may be of help.

Savvy_Sue

realitybites wrote:

My daughter is insisting on going to Australia to study.

Then make sure she puts in the effort to sort out how this is going to be paid for!

Truly, unless this is something which can only be studied over there, then it's her decision, and although you might want to be supportive, be careful how much you make it your problem.

Check out whether working while studying is going to be an option as well, ie legally. That may help.

realitybites

Thanks for the replies, I only wish I could dissuade her but she has her heart set. Would be so much more economical to study over here but even at her age i know she doesn't fully understand the consequences awaiting further down the line but, what can I do?

raa_thistle

Well, you could say to her that it is not an economical way to study, you dont feel that the benefits of studying abroad are worth the huge cost increase, plus the danger that she goes into culture shock/gets homesick in the first semester and deecides she wants to come home is too high a risk.

However (if you are sure you want to support her to this extent) you are willing to contribute what you would have had she gone to university in this country, and that if she really, REALLY wants to go abroad, then she must find some way of making up the difference. This may mean she has to take a year out to work to build up some savings, and then work solidly throughout the summer holidays instead of going off on holiday, but that is a sacrifice she must make.

If she is unwilling to do this, then she obviously doesnt care that badly about going abroad, and so there is no need to fund it. If she does then she will definately make sure she works hard, takes full advantage, and doesnt laze around. Either way its win win. Plus it would teach her some independence, and the value of money if she sees how hard she has to work to get it first.

Really, unless she is doing a course in tropical fish in their native environment, polar exploration or something where it can only be studied overseas, is it really worth going?

[Edit] What course does she want to do that she wants to go study abroad? It had better not be English Lit or Psycology or something similar that can be studied anywhere.

mrs_deadline

raa-thistle I totally agree, deferring the place for a year is a sensible option. There has to be a darned good reason (and financial payoff) to studying abroad because of the astronomical fees foreign students have to pay. I'm sure it's more usual to wait and do postgraduate study abroad?

tr3mor

realitybites wrote:

Thanks for the replies, I only wish I could dissuade her but she has her heart set. Would be so much more economical to study over here but even at her age i know she doesn't fully understand the consequences awaiting further down the line but, what can I do?

You don't have to dissuade her. Presumably she can't afford it by herself.

If you don't want to pay for her to go abroad then she can't. Simple as that!

jennifernil

Our daughter wanted to study in the US, but once she looked into the cost of it she soon changed her mind!
How about suggesting that , rather than studying in Australia for the whole of her degree, she gets a place at a good Uni here that participates in the student exchange programme. That way, if she has very good grades , she could be accepted to study for a year over there, and as fees are on a reciprocal basis and some funding is usually available, there would only be some rent and living costs to cover. Budget about 8k for a year in Australia, less any funding she gets. The receiving Uni organise sightseeing type trips , social events etc, and if they wish, students can often stay with a host family at a reasonable cost.

Acc72

jennifernil wrote:

Our daughter wanted to study in the US, but once she looked into the cost of it she soon changed her mind!
How about suggesting that , rather than studying in Australia for the whole of her degree, she gets a place at a good Uni here that participates in the student exchange programme. That way, if she has very good grades , she could be accepted to study for a year over there, and as fees are on a reciprocal basis and some funding is usually available, there would only be some rent and living costs to cover. Budget about 8k for a year in Australia, less any funding she gets. The receiving Uni organise sightseeing type trips , social events etc, and if they wish, students can often stay with a host family at a reasonable cost.

I agree with all other comments and was going to say the above !!

I also agree that if your daughter is mature enough to make the decision to move to (literally) the other side of the world, then she is mature enough to come up with a funding strategy (with your help).

Does your daughter expect you to contribute financially ? - did she discuss this with you or just tell you ??

A good compromise would be to go to a Uni in the UK (fees for home students are much less) and then go on an exchange for a year on her year 2 of her degree - she could also go to Australia in the summer or when she completes her degree.

What is her plan for after graduation ? - if it is to return to the UK, when she applies for a job the employer will not have heard of the university ?

How do the courses / academic levels compare ??

To be honest, it might be worth it if she had been accepted at Harvard or something, but just a run of the mill uni will not be worth it financially.

Sobraon

Similar issues with DD1 so have done a little background reading.

With the move to higher fees in England and the increasing adoption of the Bologna Agreement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_process) all sorts of options seem to be opening up for study overseas by English Students who wish to use the £9k-£10.5K they would have spent on fees more strategically.

On a country-by-country basis fees levels for students in EU countries are the same for all EU citizens i.e. for fees purposes you are treated as a local (providing you are an EU citizen)*.

Finland (http://www.transworldeducation.com/europe/nfinland.htm) offers a significant number of courses taught in English with free tuition - the same is true for Malta. Germany has also signed up to Bologna and is very actively encouraging English speaking students (http://www.daad.de/london) with fees at about 500 Euro/semester.

Fee levels, academic standards and background for EU HE can be found here: http://www.studyeurope.hobsons.com/index.jsp

I can't guarantee it but ISTR that studying at an Australian University (even at an overseas campus such as in South Africa or Malaysia) provides significant support in getting an Australian work permit/residency. If this is the main/ sole aim of studying at an Australian university it may be better to look at vocational masters courses.

On a purely personal basis I was fortunate enough to spend some time in a few Australian universities in ’01 and my favourite was Monash (a warm Warwick).


HTH

(*Of course the EU rule about local fees doesn’t apply to English students studying in Scotland!:rolleyes:)

tr3mor

If she wants to get an Australian work permit then do a PGCE, they're as short of teachers as we are