The most expensive countries to study in and how Wise can help

It goes without saying, studying abroad isn’t kind to one’s wallet.

That’s me phrasing it in a polite British way.

Direct translation for other cultures: holy moly it’s so incredibly, unbelievably, spectacularly expensive.

That's the bad news. The good news is, Wise likes to make living an international life as easy and affordable as possible. At the moment, that means multi-currency cards for your physical and digital wallet, spending and getting paid like a local across the world, access to over 40 currencies in over 150 countries, no hidden fees, and we use the mid-market exchange rate, so you’re always getting the actual exchange rate, and not paying unnecessary costs for our benefit. There’s more to what we offer, but I want to get onto the even better news.

In the future, we’re aiming to have all cross-currency transfers be free and in the meantime, we’re here to give you all the information you need to be smart when you spend.

Our team did some investigating (so Nancy Drew/Sherlock Holmes/ another detective you may know) and it turns out international students overpay over £ 362 million a year in unfair transfer fees. And that’s only in America.

When we added up all the money lost in our top 10 countries ranking, we found that international students lose over 945 million pounds a year. Typing that actually hurts a bit 💔
Brb just having a cry.

Ok, I’m back.

We’ve pinpointed the countries where you’ll end up paying the most in hidden fees when sending money to and from, and how much you could save using Wise. We’ve also checked out which countries have the most appealing “overall packages.” That’s taking the cost of tuition, popularity, population of international students, safety and the academic reputation of each country into consideration. Mic drop.

Please prepare to graduate as a finance guru before you ace your actual degree.

📚 Study our site 📚

How’d we work our data magic?🪄

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.

But you already know that because you’re applying to University.

We gathered this data using Numbeo, Worldbank, finder.com, Project Atlas, Statistica, QS World University Ranking for 2023, and our own internal data. We then used these delicious numbers to put together the yummy information you’re about to digest by analysing the average spent on educational costs and the average amount saved on these costs. The figures were taken from March 1st, 2022 to March 31st, 2023.

So fresh, so clean, so current.

The average annual costs international students pay per country

Studying at home or abroad is always a hefty figure, unless you’re studying somewhere education is covered by the government depending on what you’re studying and where you're from.

Wassup affordable countries 👋

Austria 🇦🇹

The Republic of Cyprus 🇨🇾

The Czech Republic 🇨🇿

Denmark 🇩🇰

Finland 🇫🇮

Germany 🇩🇪

Greece 🇬🇷

Iceland 🇮🇸

Luxembourg 🇱🇺

Malta 🇲🇹

Norway 🇳🇴

Poland 🇵🇱

Slovakia 🇸🇰

Slovenia 🇸🇮

Sweden 🇸🇪

Now let’s get into a breakdown of the 10 priciest countries to be an international student and what it costs every student on average when accounting for tuition fees and other educational costs.

The numbers don’t include accommodation because that obviously depends on where you’re setting up camp. And it’s also important to point out that we’re not trying to put you off studying abroad.

It’s a wonderful, fulfilling, exciting move to make and my year abroad was the best thing I ever did. In my case, that’s probably because I didn’t study much and went out a lot, but I'm sure you’re more responsible than me.

The information you’re about to see is simply there to help you be smart with how you spend.

The 10 priciest countries

1) The US 🇺🇸

An average cost of £22,534 or $28,794.96

2) New Zealand 🇳🇿

An average cost of £15,741 or NZ$ 33,776.41

3) Australia 🇦🇺

An average cost of £14,080 or AUS$ 27,936.34

4) Canada 🇨🇦

An average cost of £12,406 or CA$21,442.95

5) Hong Kong 🇭🇰

An average cost of £11,233 or HK$ 112,449.78

6) The UK 🇬🇧

An average cost of £10,925 or £10,925

7) Singapore 🇸🇬

An average cost of £10,741 or SG$ 18,592.81

8) Israel 🇮🇱

An average cost of £8,626 or NIS₪41,543.71

9) Japan 🇯🇵

An average cost of £5,561 or ¥1,035,035.56

10) Chile 🇨🇱

An average cost of £5,183 or CLP$5,757,538.97

What students lost on transfers and what they could have saved with Wise

Now for the light at the end of the tunnel. Not in the scary death way, but in the “yaaaay, I could save money” way.

We calculated the amount students could have saved transferring money with Wise as opposed to traditional providers by looking at their daily rates vs our Wise card transfer rates. The amount of money students could lose was calculated using the average rate saved percentage for other educational costs, tuition, etc, etc. You know the drill.

The US 🇺🇸

How much a student loses in a year using traditional payment providers

£367

The average rate they could’ve saved if they used Wise

1.63%

What they could’ve bought with the money they lost

89 beautiful Big Macs

New Zealand 🇳🇿

How much a student loses in a year using traditional payment providers

£326

The average rate they could’ve saved if they used Wise

2.07%

What they could’ve bought with the money they lost

182 packs of Krisy Kremes, because health is wealth

3) Australia 🇦🇺

How much a student loses in a year using traditional payment providers

£276

The average rate they could’ve saved if they used Wise

1.96%

What they could’ve bought with the money they lost

Over 114 boxes of the king of all snacks, Tim Tams

4) Canada 🇨🇦

Canada

How much a student loses in a year using traditional payment providers

£265

The average rate they could’ve saved if they used Wise

2.14%

What they could’ve bought with the money they lost

125 confusingly yummy packs of Lays Ketchup Chips

Hong Kong 🇭🇰

How much a student loses in a year using traditional payment providers

£249

The average rate they could’ve saved if they used Wise

2.22%

What they could’ve bought with the money they lost

62 Sochews Bars 水果條糖 (Like Maoam but better - no shade)

The UK 🇬🇧

How much a student loses in a year using traditional payment providers

£171

The average rate they could’ve saved if they used Wise

1.57%

What they could’ve bought with the money they lost

228 packs of colourful Smarties

Singapore 🇸🇬

How much a student loses in a year using traditional payment providers

£283

The average rate they could’ve saved if they used Wise

2.64%

What they could’ve bought with the money they lost

61 bags of deliciously crispy Pok Pok Chicken Skin

Israel 🇮🇱

How much a student loses in a year using traditional payment providers

£195

The average rate they could’ve saved if they used Wise

2.26%

What they could’ve bought with the money they lost

119 packs of yummy KLIK chocolate covered biscuits

Japan 🇯🇵

How much a student loses in a year using traditional payment providers

£101

The average rate they could’ve saved if they used Wise

1.82%

What they could’ve bought with the money they lost

58 Kit Kat’s that you’ll obviously eat in one go. No? Just me? Ok.

Chile 🇨🇱

How much a student loses in a year using traditional payment providers

£328

The average rate they could’ve saved if they used Wise

6.33%

What they could’ve bought with the money they lost

91 packs of chocolatey marshmallow goodness. AKA Doypack Marshmallow Cubanitos Fruna

And there we have it. A little chunk of knowledge so you can make informed decisions when applying for university or picking a payment provider. And that's your final hint to get Wise. A+ if you get it, D if you don’t.

Farewell

Say yes pls to lower fees