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You Will incur several costs when studying abroad. These include tuition fees, living expenses, travel costs, health insurance and visa costs. The major costs are the tuition fee and living expenses. You can check out the table below for a complete breakdown of the cost for the five most popular countries. Note that this cost is for Master’s programs:
| Cost | USA | UK | Canada | Australia | Germany |
| Tuition Fee | Rs 25 – Rs 50 lakhs | Rs 20 – Rs 35 lakhs | Rs 15 – Rs 50 lakhs | Rs 20 – Rs 50 lakhs | Rs 1 – 2 lakhs |
| Living Expense | Rs 8 – 12 lakhs | Rs 8 – 12 lakhs | Rs 8 – 12 lakhs | Rs 10 – Rs 15 lakhs | Rs 8 – 12 lakhs |
| Health Insurance | Rs 1.5 lakhs | Rs 0.5 lakhs | Rs 1 lakh | Rs 1 lakh | Rs 1.5 lakh |
| Visa Cost | Rs 0.5 lakhs | Rs 1 lakh | Rs 0.15 lakhs | Rs 0.5 lakhs | Rs 0.3 lakhs |
| Airfare | Rs 0.8 lakhs | Rs 0.7 lakhs | Rs 0.8 lakhs | Rs 0.8 lakhs | Rs 0.7 lakhs |
| Total | Rs 36 – Rs Rs 65 lakhs | Rs 30 – Rs 50 lakhs | Rs 25 – Rs 64 lakhs | Rs 32 – Rs 67 lakhs | Rs 12 lakhs – Rs 17 lakhs |
Please note that these expenses are averages – and are only meant to give you an approximate idea of the total cost. Students are encouraged to check the university websites, embassy websites and cost of living calculators online to get the exact cost for them.
A common misconception students have is that they must show the total cost for both years of the masters degree. This is not the case. For most countries, students need to show liquid funds only for the 1st year of education. Liquid funds are funds that are available for immediate use.
Note that while such assets cannot be showed as liquid funds, students can apply for loans with these assets, get their loan sanctioned and then show the loan sanction letter.
Universities will send you a conditional offer letter within a month or two of applying. You should have the funds ready by the time universities send you the conditional offer letter because you will not get your final offer letter unless you prove to the university that you have enough money to fund your education and living expenses. Note that the documents you show the university as proof of funds are the same documents you can submit while filing your visa application.
Now that you have context on the cost, how much funds to show and when you need them – let’s look at different options for you to fund your education.
Several students fund at least a part of their education through their own savings or through their relatives savings. If you are funding yourself – then you will need to show relevant documents such as your bank statements, Income Tax returns etc. If you are going to be funded by a relative, then you will need to show their bank statements, Income Tax returns etc. Additionally, you will have to submit a sponsorship affidavit signed by your sponsor which explicitly mentions their relationship to you, the amount of funds they are willing to sponsor you for and the documents they have shared to prove that they have the requisite funds. Note that you can be sponsored by anyone – not just relatives and you can have multiple sponsors.
This is the most common funding option for students. Students can apply for loans from either banks or NBFCs (Non Banking Financial Corporations). Students can also checkout loan platforms like Gyandhan which apply on behalf of the student to multiple lenders. The most popular companies that lend students study abroad loans are:
These organizations provide both loans against collateral and loans without collateral. For loans against collateral, students must show assets (property, land, gold etc.) of value at least equal to the loan. For loans without collateral, students need not show any assets but must have a good profile.
Here’s a comparison between loans with collaterals (secured loans) and loans without collateral (unsecured loans):
| Parameter | Secured Loans | Unsecured Loans |
| Eligibility Criteria | Students must have assets with value equal to or greater than the loan amount. | Students must have a good profile (admit from good universities, good IELTS & GRE score, good academics) |
| Approval Rate | Higher | Lower |
| Maximum Loan Amount | Unlimited | Variers – but typically upto Rs 75 lakhs |
| Interest Rates | Lower (typically 9% – 12%) | Higher (typically 11% – 14%) |
| Repayment Time | Typically upto 15 years | Typically upto 15 years |
| Processing time | 10 – 15 days | 7 – 10 days |
In most cases – students can get their loans disbursed to their account or directly to the universities account.
Note that loans can be used for all expenses – tuition, living, visa, travel and health insurance too.
When applying for loans, students generally need to show the following documents:
Identity Related Documents:
Academic Documents:
Funding through scholarships is arguably the most sought after funding source. With scholarships, students can bring down the cost of education dramatically. Typically, scholarships are given by the following organizations:
Step 1 – Job Seeker’s Visa: After graduating, students can apply for a Job Seeker’s visa if they do not get a full time job. On this visa, they can stay back in Germany for 18 months even without a job or even with a part time job. The Job seeker visa is not renewable.
Step 2a – Work Resident Permit:  Students must apply for a work resident permit the moment they get a full time job. The job must be relevant to the program they have studied and must be full time in nature. The duration of the work resident permit is four years or the length of the work contract, whichever is shorter. This permit can be renewed multiple times.
Step 2b – EU Blue Card: If the student gets a full time job with a salary at least 1.5 times the minimum wage, they can apply for an EU Blue Card. This is just like the Work Resident Permit – but with the EU Blue Card, students can work in any other European Union Country. However, to get the EU Blue Card, the employer must be able to prove to the Government that there are no qualified Germans who can fulfil the job role.
Step 3 – Permanent Settlement Card: If the student has completed 33 months on the EU Blue Card, they can apply for a Permanent Residency (PR) if they know the German language at the B1 Level.
Though there are several scholarship options, students should understand that not all scholarships are available to everyone. Most scholarships are merit based i.e. students are selected on the basis of their achievements in these areas:
In addition to the above, students might be considered for scholarship based on other criteria too such as the university they are selected into, financial background and demographics (eg: some scholarships are reserved for women or marginalized sections of society).
For more details on scholarships, you can check out these articles:
10 Scholarships to study in USA
10 Scholarships to study in Canada
10 Scholarships to study in UK
10 Scholarships to study in Australia
10 Scholarships to study in Germany
If you’ve read this article so far, then you deserve to know a secret. Students can cover 100% of their living expenses by working while studying! Most countries allow students to work for 20 hours per week. Students can work as a Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant or can work on campus in the library, cafeteria or other places too. Students can earn anywhere between Rs 600 – Rs 5,000 per hour or Rs 54,000 – Rs 4.5 lakhs per month when school is in session. This is enough to take care of the entire living expense.
We hope this article was able to clarify how much it costs to study abroad and how you can fund your education.
