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Money Matters

Many students ask, “Can I afford to study abroad?” and the answer is, yes!

Depending on where and when you choose to study abroad, you may find the cost comparable or even more affordable than staying at your home university.

As a nonprofit, USAC’s goal is for students to gain international experience affordably. That’s why historically, in addition to maintaining reasonable program fees, we have provided more than $1.25 million in scholarships, grants, and discounts (and have a scholarship for every program!) and offer assistance when it comes to applying financial aid to your program costs.

Planning ahead

By planning, you can start to seek funding early and create a study abroad budget that meets your needs. Your travel plans and lifestyle will largely influence the amount of money you will need. We recommend familiarizing yourself with the exchange rate to better gauge the value of items. It is a good idea to budget more than you think is necessary in case an emergency or new opportunity arises.

Interactive budget sheets

A good resource to help you get started is the online interactive budget sheet, which can be found in the fees section of each USAC program, as well as in your Student Gateway account once you've applied.

Rather than having static budget sheets that assume students will participate in all of the optional components, USAC’s dynamic calculator allows you to customize the form with the expenses that apply to your individual preferences and needs. The fixed expenses like program fees are automatically entered to start the budget sheets but any optional expenses, or those that have a range, allow you to make your own selections to get a budget sheet customized just for you.

USAC puts as much choice, flexibility, and control as possible in the hands of students as you select a program. These interactive budget sheets are an important tool in helping students be able to make informed financial choices as you select a program with a more in-depth understanding of the overall cost to study abroad.