The Cheapest Colleges in Scotland (for International Students)
- Originally published
- Last updated on April 15th, 2024 at 04:34 pm
Table of Contents
Scot Free?
Not exactly. Scotland can be a pricy place to live and study.
First, it’s part of the United Kingdom, which ranks 16th among world nations for cost of living.
Second, its educational system requires students to spend 4 years in class getting their university education. That’s more than neighbor England’s 3 years to a degree. So even with a slightly lower cost of living than you’ll find down in London, costs in the bonnie land of Prince Charlie accumulate fast.
But within this high-cost area, we wanted to know: what are the cheapest colleges in Scotland? We combined:
- The non-EU international tuition for 2023 to 2024
- The lowest price of accommodation at that university
- The local cost of living
Here's the Cheapest University in Scotland
The cheapest university in Scotland is Queen Margaret University. Its total 4-year cost of £111,808 ($141,752) is 79% cheaper than the most expensive university: St. Andrews.
How We Found the Cheapest Colleges in Scotland
We weighed the average cost of a social science degree or the least expensive comparable 4-year honors degree (typically, less expensive humanities and social science degrees track well with less expensive lab science, medical, and engineering degrees, too, so costs should be roughly proportionate) at 17 public universities in Scotland:
- University of Edinburgh (Guide / Stats)
- University of Glasgow (Guide / Stats)
- University of Strathclyde (Guide / Stats)
- University of St. Andrews (Guide / Stats)
- Queen Margaret University (Guide / Stats)
- Abertay University (Guide / Stats)
- University of the Highlands and Islands (Guide)
- University of the West of Scotland (Guide)
- Scotland’s Rural College SRUC
- Robert Gordon University (Guide / Stats)
- Glasgow Caledonian University (Guide / Stats)
- Edinburgh Napier University (Guide / Stats)
- University of Dundee (Guide / Stats)
- University of Aberdeen (Guide / Stats)
- Heriot-Watt University (Guide / Stats)
- Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
- Glasgow School of Art
We eliminated the University of the West of Scotland from the assessment since its website seemed stripped down during the time we conducted our analysis. It listed no courses, accommodation, or official costs. We chose not to trust conflicting third-party websites.
We also eliminated Scotland’s Rural College. That’s because there was no on-site, non-private accommodation for the Edinburgh campus. However, Scotland’s Rural College has multiple campuses, some with incredibly affordable campus housing. We think that if this college’s programs are your cup of tea, this is a great university to investigate. You’ll have to assess costs in multiple cities and on multiple campuses to truly understand if your specific campus, accommodation, and the town where the university is located will come in ahead of the other affordable colleges.
Of the remaining institutions in Scotland, we combined:
- The non-EU tuition for 2023 to 2024
- The lowest price of accommodation at that university
- The local cost of living.
Here’s a deeper break-down of the winners and how they rank on each criterion:
Note that the total cost is not exactly in ranked order. The universities are displayed and numbered in the perfect order. But because you likely won’t be able to score the cheapest student housing for all 4 years, we added private housing fees in each city to calculate the total cost you’ll see in the final row. This represents the most realistic total cost for your 4 years in Scotland.
Queen Margaret University is the Overall Cheapest University in Scotland
Queen Margaret University, with tuition almost 50% less than its closest competitor, is the overall cheapest university in Scotland.
The university invites international students to check out their fee schedules, and they pledge to be accessible to international students. You’ll pay just £7,000 tuition per year for a psychology course. Even pricy health courses like physiotherapy or radiography come in at a lean £15,500 per year.
Originally a women’s college where domestic and dietary courses reigned, Queen Margaret since absorbed health sciences and dramatic arts institutions and expanded to include men as well. Today, Queen Margaret serves over 5,000 students and has broken into the global top 1,000 (according to QS rankings). The school of health still dominates. But it’s got a strange mix of courses available, and if yours is on the list, you can save big while enjoying expensive Edinburgh.
Check out the school of business, where you can focus on hospitality, tourism, and events management. Not a business school sort of student? Look for world-class acting training. The acting and performance program ranks in the UK’s top 12.
A small warning, though: the enormous tuition savings aren’t matched by accommodation savings. Queen Margaret ranks #10 for cheap student housing, and worst for cost of living (all Edinburgh universities share that distinction).
Even so, the total cost of 4 years of living near campus and paying tuition at Queen Margaret sets students back just £111,808. Compare that to St. Andrews’ £258,348 and you’ll see that there’s plenty of room to save cash.
Runners Up: Abertay and Stirling
Other Affordable Universities in Scotland for International Students include #2 Abertay University and #3 University of Stirling.
One of the cheapest universities, Abertay University, was once a local mechanics’ school and then a technological college. Even as it has grown, its career-oriented classes, from textiles to accounting to game development and even ethical hacking, have helped keep the university’s mission clear — Abertay excels in applied technology.
Partiers will find more social opportunities at the nearby University of Dundee. However, for budding game engineers, Abertay University offers the perfect combination of academics and price.
Get into Scotland’s populated and warmer “central belt” without the high costs of urban hubs at the University of Stirling. It’s a short jaunt from Glasgow and Edinburgh but offers students a more bucolic campus, complete with a lake (call it a loch). The campus regularly wins awards as one of the most beautiful on earth, so if you’re looking for aesthetics to help you focus on your studies, this is your place. Fun fact: you’ll also find you’re more employable than any other graduates in the entire UK.
If you’re studying sport, media, or communications, you’ll find especially strong programs here, as well as a bargain.
Honorable Mention: The University of the Highlands and Islands
#4 The University of the Highlands and Islands is cheaper than Stirling if you have the good (and potentially theoretical) luck to score a low-cost dorm every year you’re there.
It’s also a special place as the university gets students as far afield as they can get and still study in the UK. Inverness is a 3-hour and 40-minute train ride north from Edinburgh. The regional giant might serve unique student needs in a unique geography. However, the future trajectory of the university is focused on developing their programs most aligned with job training, so students in the humanities and social sciences, or those looking to become scholars in their fields, beware.
The Cheapest Cost of Living Among Scotland’s University Towns
To save some cash, get out of Scotland’s urban centers, and avoid trendy St. Andrews. Instead, head to Dundee where you can get a degree at Abertay or the University of Dundee.
It’ll cost you roughly £56,448 to make a home here over the course of your 4-year degree, including rent, groceries, utilities, food, and transportation. That’s a savings of £27,360 before we even start talking tuition (but be careful: it’ll take a bit more cash to get from Edinburgh, your likely transportation hub, to a more remote city like Dundee).
Remote? Maybe. But Dundee isn’t backwater. You can contribute to the city’s creative energy through its emerging video game industry. Or study up on more traditional Dundee pursuits, like fiber arts or journalism. Both are prominent in this plucky, creative town.
The Most Expensive Scottish University Overall is St. Andrews
Perhaps they’re just milking their royal reputation, but St. Andrews, a competitive small university on Scotland’s east coast, is the most expensive university in Scotland. It costs students £258,348 to attend while living in an apartment all 4 years. That’s a shock-inducing total of $335,585.
Also the home of golf, St. Andrews is the most expensive seaside city in Scotland even before you add university prices to the mix. And the influx of tourists, golfers, and students competing for accommodation together isn’t helping. Though the overall cost of living comes in #10 behind the Glasgow and Edinburgh universities, it still outstrips all the other other small towns and mid-size cities.
Still in love with Scotland’s top academic contenders? Compare St. Andrews to Edinburgh, including costs, to make your final decision.
While you can try to trim costs by scoring student accommodation (the cheapest option ranks #11 overall among our 16 Scottish universities), your tuition will still cost just under 86% more than #2 University of Aberdeen.
Highest Living Costs in Scotland
No surprises here. Edinburgh takes the prize for the most expensive place to call home in Scotland. The capital has a lot of university students, too, all trying to afford rent and snacks in this overpriced hub. Students from Edinburgh Napier, the University of Edinburgh, SRUC Rural College of Scotland, Heriot-Watt, and Queen Margaret will all find their prices inflated by the cost of living in Auld Reekie.
Highest Tuition in Scotland
Hey, St. Andrews? What’s with international tuition fees that are £21,295 per year more than the next most expensive degree in Scotland? That’s more than £85,000 in added costs over the course of a degree, or a whopping $110,000 in tuition alone.
That’s quite the princely sum to find yourself royally screwed in the wallet. Ranked just #352 globally (according to U.S. News) and #33 in the UK, smart students can likely keep more money in their pockets and get a comparable education elsewhere.
Highest and Lowest Accommodation Costs in Scotland
Heriot-Watt takes the prize for the highest accommodation costs in Scotland. The cheapest dorm here will set you back £6,360 per year for a grand total of £25,440 over the course of 4 years of study.
Compare that to the cheapest accommodation costs at Scottish universities: nearby University of Edinburgh, where you can score a couple of university housing options for an outstanding £2,915 per academic year. Students who could snag that deal every year pay only £11,660 in housing over the course of their degrees.
Stay More, Pay More: Why are Scottish Universities so Expensive?
All of these Scottish universities are FAFSA-eligible, making the costs for Americans more manageable. And their tuition costs overall beat many in-state U.S. schools. However, Scotland is not a treasure trove of cheap universities.
Additionally, the Scottish university system offers 4-year bachelor’s degrees, just like in the US. Students in Scotland take classes in up to three course (major) areas before settling into one. While that’s great for students who want to explore their options and settle into a focus area by their junior year, it’s also an expensive investigation. Down in England, students get a 25% discount just by virtue of spending only 3 years total in university.
And of course, Americans will pay “international” fees. You’ll find differing tuition fees for “home” students (Scotland), “RUK” students (“rest of UK” including England, Wales, and Northern Ireland), and International and non-EU students (Since Brexit, EU students pay international fees which has made UK schools less appealing for these students).
Note the very different fees for home students at the University of Edinburgh: home students pay just £1,820 in tuition, while RUK students pay £9,250 and internationals are strapped with £24,500 in tuition fees.
Scotland for International Students in 2024
Still worried about the basics of college in Scotland, including requirements and specifics of applying? Learn more about college in Scotland. Then follow in the footsteps of plenty of applicants and check out the differences between universities in Scotland versus its bigger neighbor to the south. You can also check out our picks for the best universities in Scotland for international students.
There are plenty of cheap universities in Scotland compared to England, though the extra year of study often spoils the overall savings. Universities in the UK often save the thriftiest students money in the long run with their fast time to degree.
In the end, The cheapest in Scotland are some of the more expensive educations in the world. Students enrolled in Scottish universities from outside the UK will pay high prices regardless of where they enroll. But they’ll get some of the best universities in the world.
Ultimately, price is just one part of what makes a university “worth it.”
For you, the extra year of study in Scotland may mean just one extra year getting the educational breadth you crave while soaking up the Highland air, Edinburgh’s hipster art and startup scene, and the buzz of imagination you might not get anywhere else. Make sure you pay attention to the educational opportunities you’ll find at all of these universities. Once you find your perfect place, you may find you’re getting a great education and a great bargain.
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Jessica Share
Jessica is the writer, Ph.D., and mom-of-an-abroad-student-in-the-UK at the helm of College Abroad Guides. When she's not asking college students where the coolest place to hang out in their city is, she's figuring out how she can make $60 imported Greek oregano potato chips and £50 British bacon potato chips appear on her doorstep for the cost of a local bag of Lay's.
