Pick the country you are looking at and the page fills in the official visa fees. Add your tuition and living costs, and you get a first-year total, split into what you pay before you leave and what you pay once you arrive. You can add a buffer and see the total in your home currency.
Enter your costs
Everything is worked out in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Your first-year cost
Your total shows up here once you add a cost, like tuition or your visa fee.
What to enter
- Country
- Optional. Picking a country fills in the official visa fee, any health charge the government publishes, and the currency symbol. Canada also fills in the average international tuition from Statistics Canada.
- Tuition
- International tuition is set by each university, so use the figure on your course page. Choose whether you pay it before or after you arrive.
- When you pay
- Mark each cost as before you arrive or after you arrive. The page adds them up separately, so you know how much cash you need to have ready before you travel.
- Months you live there
- The months you pay rent and food. Ten is common for a university year with the summer off, and twelve if you stay all year.
- Buffer and exchange rate
- Both optional. The buffer adds a percentage on top for things you have not thought of, and you can set it to 0. The exchange rate shows the total in your home currency.
A worked example
Here is a made-up student going to the UK for a 10-month university year with 3 terms. The tuition and living costs are invented for the example, since international fees are set by each university. The visa fee and the health surcharge are the official ones.
Before arriving: student visa fee £558, immigration health surcharge £776, flights £700, accommodation deposit £400. That is £2,434. After arriving: tuition £18,500, then rent, food, bills, transport, books, personal costs and setting up. That is £31,550.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Due before you arrive | £2,434 |
| Due after you arrive | £31,550 |
| Total before buffer | £33,984 |
| Buffer (10%) | £3,398 |
| First-year total | £37,382 |
The first-year total is £37,382. Living there costs £3,155 a month, tuition included. With £30,000 available, the student is £7,382 short. At an example rate of 1,000 home-currency units to the pound, which is invented and not today’s rate, the total would be 37,382,400 in the home currency. Notice that tuition is only 54% of the cost.
The official fees the page fills in
These are the government fees the form fills in when you pick a country. They were read on 3 October 2026. Check the source pages for the current amount.
| Country | Fee | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Student visa fee | £558 |
| United Kingdom | Immigration Health Surcharge, per year | £776 |
| United States | Visa application fee | $185 |
| United States | SEVIS fee | $350 |
| Canada | Study permit | C$150 |
| Canada | Biometrics | C$85 |
| Australia | Student visa, listed from | A$2,500 |
How the total is calculated
- Each cost is turned into a first-year amount. Monthly costs are multiplied by the months you live there, weekly costs by those months of 52 weeks in 12, per-term costs by the number of terms, and one-off costs are counted once.
- Costs marked "before I arrive" and "after I arrive" are added up separately.
- The buffer is a percentage of that total, which you can change or set to 0, and it is added on top.
- If you enter an exchange rate, the total is multiplied by it to show the cost in your home currency.
- If you enter the money you have, the page compares it with the total.
First-year total = (costs before arrival + costs after arrival) x (1 + buffer)
Assumptions to keep in mind
- The official fees are the ones listed on the source pages on the date shown below. Governments change them, so check the exact amount when you apply.
- The Australian visa fee is listed as "from A$2,500", so your own fee may be higher.
- The UK health surcharge is shown for one year. A longer visa has a longer surcharge, and some courses charge it for the full visa length up front.
- Tuition, rent and food depend on the school and the city, so the page does not fill them in. Use your own estimates.
- The buffer is an assumption you can change. It is there because a list of costs usually misses something, and you can set it to 0.
- The exchange rate is whatever you enter. Rates move, and banks and transfer services add their own margin.
Mistakes that make studying abroad look cheaper
Only counting tuition and the visa
Living costs usually make up much of the first-year bill. Rent, food, bills and transport for ten months add up faster than most people expect.
Forgetting what is due before you arrive
The flight, the visa, any health charge and a deposit all leave your account before you land. Look at the ‘before I arrive’ total so you know how much cash you need ready.
Mixing currencies
If tuition is in one currency and rent in another, the total is meaningless. Convert to the study currency first, then use the exchange rate to see the home-currency total.
Using a quoted exchange rate from months ago
Rates move. A rate from when you started researching may be well off by the time you pay, so use a current one and add the buffer.
Treating the visa fee as the only government charge
Some countries also charge for a health surcharge, biometrics or a system fee. The page fills these in when the government publishes them, but check for any charge specific to your situation.
Questions students ask
How much does it cost to study abroad for a year?
It depends on the country, the university and the city, so the page asks for your own tuition and living costs. It fills in the official visa fees, and the total is split into what you pay before you leave and what you pay after you arrive.
What visa fees does the page include?
For the UK, the student visa fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge. For the US, the visa application fee and the SEVIS fee. For Canada, the study permit fee and the biometrics fee. For Australia, the student visa fee, which is listed from A$2,500. Each comes from the government source shown in the sources section below.
Why is there a buffer?
Lists of costs tend to miss things: a deposit you did not know about, a winter coat, a flight change. The buffer is a percentage you choose, and it starts at 10%. Set it to 0 to leave it out.
Can I see the total in my own currency?
Yes. Enter the exchange rate in settings, meaning how many units of your home currency one unit of the study currency buys, and the page shows the total in your currency. Rates move, so use today’s rate and check it again before you pay.
What if I am short?
Add the money you have and the page shows the difference. The funding gap calculator then lets you add scholarships and loans, and the university cost calculator helps if you want to compare a home-country option.
