Advertisement
You must have heard it being said repeatedly that Studying abroad is extremely expensive, but does anyone really know how expensive it is. What would you say is the average cost of a three or four year program in a university abroad?
Advertisement
Here we will do an average estimation of what it would cost to study abroad, from the application process, to the cost of flight, to tuition, feeding, rent etc. Now we know that the cost varies from country to country and there will of course be exceptions to certain rules, so this is not a perfect estimate, we will have to pick our case study. For the purpose of this study, we will focus on the cost of Studying in Canada.
APPLYING FOR AN INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT
The agency responsible for issuing out international passport is the Nigerian immigration service. According to their website the processing fee depends on the number of pages and the age bracket of the applicant. For the purpose of our estimate we would select a sixty four paged passport for an applicant between the ages of 18 and 59, the amount is #20,000 We however have it on authority that you could spend as much as #45,000, this is probably because of all the documents you would need to have, we have therefore decided to cap the price at #40,000, this is the standard type of passport and it is only valid for 5 years.
STUDENT VISA
Since the duration of your study is more than six months, the processing fee for your visa would be $150 CAD, biometric fee is $85, and there’s a service fee of $45, that all together is $280. Converted to naira at today’s conversion rate is #91,280.
One of the requirements for a visa is the Immigration medical examination. The average Nigerian hospital will charge about #50,000 for that.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Yes, some institutions require an application fee while others don’t, especially from international students. For institutions that require application fees, this varies by college. As promised we must endeavor to pick an average cost. Confederation College has a non-refundable application fee of $95, for Conestoga College the price is $100, Durham College is also asking for $100. We will put the average application fee as $100, this is Canadian dollars by the way, going by today’s conversion rate we have about #34,000, bear in mind you’d be applying to more than one school, so say you applied to at least three schools, which would be #102,000.
If you would be writing an English proficiency test, TOEFL for example is costs $182(US) that is about #81,000.
FLIGHT COST
Advertisement
A one way ticket, in a direct flight and in economy, in the cheapest month, which is in November, would cost between #350,000 and #450,000. While I’m other months it could range from around #500,000 to #800,000. For the sake of our estimate we would put this at #800,000; this is assuming you don’t have to pay extra for your luggage
TUITION
This definitely depends on your course of study and the university. However the average tuition cost for a postgraduate study is CA$17, 744, that is #5,784,544 per year, an MBA is generally more expensive
LIVING COST
This would depend generally on the city where you live, Toronto is considered more expensive than other cities, and your spending habit is also a great contributing factor. It is stated as a visa requirement that you must have at least CA$10,000 which is 3,260,000, for you living expenses apart from tuition, but research as shown that you’d likely need to budget more than this.
RENT
Living off campus or on campus would greatly affect your cost. Living on-campus for example would come with perks like free water, electricity and even internet, meanwhile some universities don’t charge extra cost for living on-campus, this cost would have been added to the tuition. Living on-campus would cost you averagely about CA$4000 which is #1,304,000 per year in rent, living off campus could be as high as CA$8000 which is #2,608,000
FEEDING
Living on campus would greatly reduce your cost of feeding, most campus offer subsidized food rates. Preparing your meals is quite cheaper than eating out. Your average cost for feeding for a year would be around CA$3000 that is #978,000
TRANSPORTATION
You’d need move from one location to another even within your school; public transportation is definitely more advisable. A one way ticket for a public bus costs about CA$3, your cost of transportation for a year could be as high as CA$950 which is #309,700
HEALTH INSURANCE
Health insurance cost approximately CA$650 per year which is #211,900
CLOTHING
There are several options when it comes to getting good clothes, from high end boutiques to dollar stores and even thrift stores, you can always get good quality clothing for a low price. Since this is within your control, we will buy the clothing budget at the low price of CA$200 per year, that’s #65,200.
Our total estimates to relocate is about #1,164,280, which is CA$3571. Living in Canada including tuition is CA$26,544 that is #8,653,344 every year.
We chose the low end of each estimate, meaning it could be very much higher. Meanwhile Canada is considered the cheapest country to study in North America, we know that financial situations are fluid, you must be diligent to carry out your own research, this is just to give you a bulwark idea of what to expect.
You can work as a student in Canada and earn as high as CA$30,000 a year, so the situation is not completely grim. Furthermore, there are numerous financial aid programs like Scholarships that would immensely ease the financial burden.