Oxford or Cambridge?

cupcake
Sun, 27 Apr 2008 06:37:53 +0000

Try to find info about undergraduate financial aid on their sites within the first couple seconds like you can do for every other top US college (I’m still looking for it. I’m not sure the page exists).

That’s because it doesn’t. The concept of financial aid does not really exist in the UK. For UK/EU students the tuition cost is the same for all universities at about £3000 per year, but you don’t actually pay this until after you graduate (there are reductions if you pay it upfront when you enroll). There are some discounts if you choose to study a less popular ‘hard’ subject like physics. Then there are student loans which come from the government which pay for living costs. These are not paid back until you graduate and earn above a certain amount. Interest onlt at the rate of inflation so they are a pretty good deal.

For international students there is generally no financial help unless you can find it in your own country. UK universities are all in effect like US public schools. they are funded on the most part by taxes paid in the UK. If you haven’t paid any taxes (or rather your parents haven’t) you have to pay the full bill. It’s as simple as that. It’s how the universities make money.