Studying in the United States is obviously not cheap. We have talked about the total cost of tuition as well as other college related expenses in previous blog post. Just as a reminder, university costs in the US vary quite a bit, with your cheaper schools starting at $13000-$15000 (everything included) for junior colleges, all the way up to $80000-$90000 per year for your top academic schools. Now, it is very important to use some common sense here to better understand these huge differences in prices. Just like everything is more expensive in certain parts of the country or in cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston, this applies to the costs of universities in those cities as well. On the other end of the spectrum, rural areas and areas where the cost of living is cheaper will also have less expensive universities.
In most cases, the saying “you get what you pay for” will also be true when it comes to universities. Schools with high academic rankings typically will cost more than colleges who are maybe not as well known for the quality of their education. However, this should not mean that cheaper universities are not great options. Some have excellent sports teams and others might present great opportunities for student-athletes who do not have the grades and/or test scores to get into Ivy League schools or colleges of that level.
Now, one important thing to keep in mind when looking at the total yearly cost of a school that you might be considering in the US, is that the leftover cost after any scholarships that you might have received, will always include absolutely everything. That means that your housing as well as your food will also be factored in. Whenever you compare these numbers to universities in Europe or other parts of the world, you will notice that while tuition might be cheaper (or even free) in your home country, housing and food typically will not be included in the costs presented to you by a university outside of the US. Depending on in which city or in which country the university might be located, this can easily bring the yearly cost up to $10000 or maybe even close to $20000 per year. If that is the case, in a lot instances studying in the US with a great sports scholarship, might actually end up being the cheaper option for you. So keep that in mind whenever you make your decision and always look at the total cost, with housing and food, when comparing universities in the United States and abroad.