With Rising Costs of an Overseas Education , is it still worth it?

You read the news? A Singapore student claimed her tuition fees at King's College London's law school increased from £14,000 in 2012-2013 to £15,000 in 2013-2014. A jump of £1000- within such a short time- mind blowing right???  Apparently the main excuse for  these institutions is rising costs Also you don’t expect them to charge their local students more right? It’s easier to pass the buck to “rich” international students. Sadly not many Singaporean students who go over are that richL .

So why do students from middle income families go abroad then? Many do it because they didn’t do all that well & couldn’t get into local universities or popular courses like medicine and law. For those who could afford it, they might just want the kids to experience more to expand horizons – well why not if you can afford it right?

The report I read noted that , tuition fees for undergraduate engineering courses is around $55,000 a year. Medicine courses can go up to $80,000 a year. Minimum living costs in London, can easily hit $2,000 a month, or $24,000 a year or more. A three-year UK university education can thus easily cost $250,000 today. And that cost will definitely go up in the future due to inflation & fluctuations in exchange rates. In Australia, costs are slightly lower, probably at above $200,000 for a three-year education today. In the US, costs will also vary widely depending on the school, course and location. A typical four-year education there can thus cost $200,000 to over $300,000 today.

By contrast, local Singapore university tuition fees for citizens are currently at just $8,000 a year. Most students would probably stay with parents. With no rent & food is much cheaper here. So when parents sent kids abroad, it’s really all about the ability to splurge- the numbers tells all !

How about those who barely could afford it? If you take a student loan, you’ll take ages to repay it, unless you end up with a cushy job with high pay. But how many of us will be that lucky? Heard of parents who give it all up even selling the house so that junior can go abroad? Is it worth it? What about unexpected circumstances like parents getting retrenched, parents getting sick, unexpected fee increases & exchange rate fluctuations? Think about it.