Why Get a Bachelor’s Degree in Europe?
- Originally published
- Last updated on November 14th, 2023 at 03:10 pm
Table of Contents
Why are Americans looking at Europe for bachelor’s degrees?
Why get a bachelor’s degree in Europe? My own family started this journey like many of you — you probably started wondering if you could get a better education at a lower price and stand out on a job market full of State-U lookalikes. Check price comparisons in Ireland and Scotland to understand expensive European degree price tags that still undercut American universities.
More Americans are looking for bachelor’s degrees in Europe with good reason. Many of these programs offer advantages academically, for a much lower price, and without debt. Graduation rates are high. Career outcomes are outstanding.
The more international students we spoke to, the more we found some core reasons why Europe is the most sought-after destination in the world.
Here are the top five:
REASON #1: Cash
Cost-effectiveness is the top reason you should consider studying in Europe.
There are even bachelor’s programs in Europe that are tuition-free for international students.
However, most require language proficiency in the native country’s language.
You might stumble across the Free University of Berlin, which offers a single bachelor’s in English — the North American Studies major. It includes advanced language work and is therefore geared toward non-native English speakers, not American students. On the other hand, you can study Icelandic as a second language at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik – in English – for a nominal annual fee. There’s a catch: the cost of living in Iceland is high and your degree in Icelandic is pretty tailored to your future life in Iceland.
However, there are still some highly affordable options. The University of Pisa has a bachelor’s in economics and business management that is English-taught. Tuition fees are ~$2,500 annually for students from outside the EU.
The University of Ljubliana, in Slovenia, has a similar economics and business major with a marketing and international business specialization. Its €3,000 tuition means the entire degree costs €9,000.
If there’s a program that’s right for your interests, you could reap a huge financial benefit by completing your studies in these havens.
You could save the $29,900 that the average American student has in debt. Average tuition fees in Europe are much lower. Even in expensive countries like Ireland, tuition and housing can mean big savings for non-EU students.
Generally, there are ample affordable opportunities to study for next to nothing in tuition costs. But that’s only if you speak the native language. That’s a challenge for American students, who don’t learn multiple languages in school. They’ll need to research programs that are available to them.
English-taught programs for bachelor’s degrees are rarer and typically more expensive. They’re still a more affordable option than American programs. And many English-taught programs will allow single-language speakers to study their chosen program in English at a fraction of the cost of the US.
REASON #2: Your Own Language Learning
Typically, US kids don’t start learning a language until well past the time when they’ll achieve mastery or become fluent. Heck, even finding a conversation partner can be difficult when the language of signs and groceries for 3,000 miles in all directions is English.
Why not bust out of that bubble?
Even when European education institutions conduct classes in English, the outside world will help boost your foreign language skills. For instance, foreign students at Dutch universities will find themselves paying rent in Dutch, negotiating water bills, and reading train schedules. That’s an opportunity in itself!
While many English speakers are there to help, the extra language practice of living abroad can mean non-EU/EEA students (non-European Union) can benefit from multilingualism.
It’s not only an advantage in an international job marketplace but a chance to appreciate a new learning opportunity you may not have had growing up.
For example, some of the university colleges in the Netherlands offer non-credit (free) Dutch classes for international students to learn to start paying their bills and getting around town in Dutch. The International Neighbor Group at the University of Utrecht offers Dutch lessons in the evenings across the semester, taught by volunteers.
Other places immerse you in a world where the native language is practically everywhere outside your program, and you’ll learn it through immersion and practice.
REASON #3 : Job Security
You’ll have more money because you’re avoiding massive debt, but you’ll also have more money because students who study abroad land jobs within a year of graduation at a rate of 97%, whereas the average for all students is around 50%. They also earn about $7,000 more annually, according to the University of California. Their high employability means that after working just 4 years, you could afford the average US college debt load outright with your extra earnings from NOT Attending an American school.
Students who go abroad are desirable both at home and in a bigger world where their history of bilingualism (maybe) and cultural diversity (certainly) means they understand how to work across teams and cultures. Collaborative? You already proved it! Flexible? You betcha. The job skills earned by studying abroad give these go-getters many transferable skills.
Another reason why these students may fare so well on the job market is that many European universities build an internship into their programs. You’ll have work experience abroad before you even start looking for a full-time career. Interns also find their first jobs at their internship sites — businesses typically hire 50-75% of their interns, according to the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State.
REASON #4: Travel Galore
Europe is a first stop for many North American students looking into a degree abroad because it’s culturally more familiar. There are so many places to see that Americans have on their bucket lists. The bonus is that all these places are within close range (by American standards). Students can make long weekends out of much of the small continent. There are even tour groups for students that focus on Friday-Sunday trips within Europe for students looking to expand their cultural experience by checking out countries where they aren’t even studying.
For example, did you know you can travel by train from London to Paris in less time than it takes to watch Titanic? And the fast train from Munich to Venice is just over 6 hours. You could even fly from Nice to Dublin in about an hour and a half.
Oh yeah, and you’ll often pay something ridiculous like €20 for the flight.
Many of the students we talk to remind us that travel is also affordable once you get to your destination within Europe, as AirBnBs often have low-cost rooms that fit student budgets, not American hotel prices.
And study abroad is still on the table. You can experience college in two different countries if you take advantage of a degree abroad. You won’t have to pay American tuition for your study abroad experience, either.
REASON #5: Relationships
Bonding with other international students a continent away from the comforts of home isn’t like bonding with your roommate from across the state. You’re all doing something pretty significant together, and you have ready-made conversation starters like, “Can you believe you need money to work the shopping carts? How does that work?”
Bonding over cultural mysteries, taking weekend trips, and trying to decipher homework together means international students often make close friends with one another. They build relationships. They have a leg up on personal growth.
The outcome? You’ll have friends from all corners of the world that enrich your future life (or at least offer awesome places to crash when you travel as an adult). It’s hard to get those international networking opportunities elsewhere. You’ll even have an alumni network that circles the globe.
Many students we’ve spoken to talked about brief programs abroad or volunteering with international students from Europe, which first opened their eyes to global perspectives. Making more of these connections will help expand your world at every step of your college experience. You’ll have multicultural exposure that other students just never get.
Why Get a Bachelor’s Degree in Europe?
There are tons of “frivolous” reasons to study for a bachelor’s in Europe. The macarons are to die for. The weather can be divine (sometimes). Your Instagram feed game will be strong. These are legitimate reasons to think about studying in Europe! There are personal growth advantages to living a different, more exciting life than you could back at State U.
There are also “serious” benefits of doing a bachelor’s degree in Europe, not just spending a semester abroad or a summer trip traipsing through museums. It allows students to save cash, earn more, get better jobs, and develop language skills and relationships they couldn’t have at home. If those benefits are right for you, consider doing your entire undergraduate degree in Europe.
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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.
