Pretty much what the title says – is it possible to attend college (as a US citizen) for between 25-30K in Canada or the UK, or Ireland. I know a FEW Canadian colleges give merit scholarships --but from my research I think the answer is generally no? I thought I’d ask the minds of CC before I took them off the list. Thanks.
Tagging @DadTwoGirls for Canada and @Twoin18 for the UK.
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I think the problem is when you start to look at living expenses. Housing costs are very high in much of Canada.
If you’re looking at somewhere like Acadia or Mount Allison, with the exchange rate I think you could get to your COA. Is there somewhere in particular that you’re hoping for?
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I will not talk about the UK because I do not know enough. I will assume that the $30k limit is in US dollars.
For the famous well known large universities in Canada, I think that the answer is almost but not quite no. The one exception that I am aware of is the Lester B Pearson scholarship at the University of Toronto. This merit scholarship is very good, but getting it is very, very competitive. You might think of winning the Lester B. Pearson scholarship as similar in selectivity to getting accepted to Harvard. You need to be nominated by your high school just to apply for it. I think that it covers everything, or close to everything.
Otherwise you might want to look at universities that are not as well known. You might want to consider Memorial University of Newfoundland. You also might want to consider some of the smaller universities in eastern Canada. I would take a look at Acadia, Bishop’s (perhaps less likely), Mount Allison, St Francis Xavier, and perhaps also Mount St Vincent (in Halifax), Cape Breton University, U.PEI, or U.New Brunswick. I have not checked the small universities in central and western Canada, but I suppose that you could check out UNBC, Lethbridge, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Lakehead. I just checked Brock University and it looks to be over your budget.
I am not sure which of these will get down as low as US$30,000/year. However, keep the exchange rate in mind. I think that you will get close or under this cost at some of them. I just checked three of them and tuition and fees was somewhere around C$21,000, C$25,000 and C$38,000 per year so it seems to depend where you go. Some merit aid is possible and might be hard to predict. Edited to add: Housing costs will vary with location. Toronto and Vancouver are very expensive. The smaller universities are mostly in small towns which are more reasonable. I do not know what housing costs are like in Newfoundland.
Coming from the US, depending upon where you are in the US, Canada might be nearby. However, Canada is really, really big and snow is possible in most locations. Keep travel costs in mind.
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She’d like something academical challenging that is good for STEM. In the states she will likely apply to schools like Dickinson, Union, Mount Holyoke for targets, Macalester, Vassar for Reaches, state schools and Beloit for safeties (just listing so you know the level of academic interest) --but I know the Canadian system is different.
I don’t know much about Acadia or Mount Allison – I just looked at the ones mentioned here like Toronto, McGill, British Columbia (Canada) St Andrews (Scotland). Appreciate the additional college options.
This is extraordinarily unlikely in the U.K. Tuition is typically GBP20K-30K (US$26K-40K), sometimes more for lab sciences. Then living expenses would be GBP10K-15K (US$13K-20K), more in London. Merit is very hard to come by and is typically only a few thousand pounds. In England many of the courses are three years so that might save some money.
There are a few donor funded need based scholarships but these are usually directed to students from poor and/or Commonwealth countries. Americans are not a priority.
However if you are truly extraordinary, say an IMO gold medalist, then some wealthy Oxbridge colleges might offer aid. But it still won’t be as cheap as Harvard would be for someone with substantial need.
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Also -yes, living expenses worry me – especially in a place like Toronto or Vancouver – I think that’s beyond our means.
We live in Kansas now --but used to live in the Northern Rockies so snow and wind isn’t a foreign concept to us. I’d like her to be coastal if possible --looks like Acadia is relatively close and Mount Allison too. (haven’t checked all the others -but anything called Cape Breton is probably near water --haha, and U PEI is on an island so…) Travel costs are going to be an issue no matter where she goes --unless she stays in state which she would prefer not to do unless necessary. McGill wouldn’t be as far as BC --but I just don’t see us managing that financially.
Are those smaller universities similar in education to a good US state school?
She should definitely look at some of the smaller Canadian schools if she likes places like Dickinson and Vassar. Acadia, Mt A, Bishops, UBC Okanagan, and some of the other ones that DadTwoGirls mentioned above.
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I was wondering more about St Andrews --because I know they have A LOT of Americans -but probably still financially out of reach.
Appreciate the general feedback -figured that was the case. London would be unobtainable – kind of like Boston or New York I think.
Thanks - I’m going to check those out. I wish I could convey my sincerest thanks over the web. Really truly appreciate the generosity of folks on CC. It takes time to read and reply to threads.
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At St Andrews you wouldn’t have much change out of US$60K and it’s four years. A three year degree in England might be just about doable for $150K total at current exchange rates in a cheap city (say Manchester or Birmingham) including travel, visas etc but probably not for $120K.
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Thank you! I think in the end, she will just end up doing a study abroad --but she just told me the other day she would love to study in Canada full-time --and I was wondering if I could make it happen. It looks like there are potential options thanks to this group
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Basically yes, but smaller.
Acadia University and Mount Allison University are both very good universities. Our daughter was accepted to both (and also to Bishop’s and St Francis Xavier), with merit aid at all of them, and it was tough to decide which one to attend.
Our daughter got a bachelor’s degree at a small university in eastern Canada, and is currently getting a PhD at a very good university in the US. So far she is doing well and reports that she is well prepared for her PhD. She also got very good research opportunities as an undergraduate student. This helped her quite a bit with getting her first job in the US, which to me as someone who is not well versed in her field sounded a great deal like what she had already been doing as a student.
One issue with a small university: Her first semester my daughter had two classes with 15 students or less. The largest class that she had over 4 years was 90 students (we might compare this with the largest class that I had as an undergraduate student at MIT, which had between 400 and 500 students, and MIT is not a big university). Small classes helped her to get to know her professors, which in turn helped her get research opportunities.
At least for us this went well.
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Both are pretty much right on the Bay of Fundy – at least at high tide. The view of the Bay of Fundy from the Acadia dining hall is quite nice.
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Thank you! I’m definitely going to put Acadia and Mount Allison on her consideration list. She was super excited about the possibilities! And both are by coast/bay. As far as small schools --She wants a small school with interactions with her professors so those both sound like a good fit. She’s already researching and knows she wants to continue that -so that’s a good fit too.
I haven’t looked at Bishops or St Francis yet --as I’ve been working – but I’ll check those out next.
Thank you very, very much for your insight! She’s only a Junior, so we are in list building phase.
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The smaller Canadian U’s are going to be fine academically but they do not have the large footprint/reputation in the US of a place like McGill (which has an exceptional reputation) or Toronto.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t fine options, but just something to consider.
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I doubt too many folks in the US know Union or Dickinson either except in smaller circles… but that is a good thing to keep in mind. She’ll have to be a bit more assertive/motivated about finding jobs or graduate opportunities if she goes that direction.
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If your D likes the idea of a LAC and is considering the Maple League (which is Acadia, Bishop’s, St. FX, Mt. Allison), she might also want to look at the University of King’s College in Halifax. It has a great Foundation Year Program and has a great partnership with Dalhousie University, which is the neighbouring research university, so that students can get the LAC environment but also leverage the resources of a larger institution. Dal in particular is great for STEM - known for marine biology.
King’s also has an international tuition guarantee for up to 5 years, IIRC. COA (all-in, housing, fees, all that stuff) would run you about 36k USD (50k CAD), but there are entrance scholarships and a few larger competitive scholarships that are open to international students. I think King’s is also open to awarding need-based bursaries to international students, from what I’ve read, though I don’t know in what amounts. Halifax is a great city for students.
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I second University of King’s College in Halifax! Visited last fall, and it had an incredibly supportive, cozy atmosphere yet all the opportunities of a large research university because of its partnership with Dalhousie. However, the first-year Foundation Year Program (Great Books) won’t appeal to every student. Lots of reading, essay-writing and oral exams. (In that first year, science students have FYP lectures 3 days a week plus 2 science/math classes at Dalhousie.) King’s has auto-merit awards based on the student’s average and some application-based major scholarships that Americans can also apply for.
As for Mount Allison, in the Maclean’s ranking (the Canuck version of the U.S. News ranking), MtA is ranked first among “primarily undergraduate” universities in Canada and has one of the highest per-capita records when it comes to churning out Rhodes Scholars. However, Sackville, New Brunswick, is fairly isolated.
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