~For Focus Issue: International Education

~For Focus Issue: International Education

Studying abroad -- Big costs, big rewards

Sudibyo M. Wiradji The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Studying abroad may not only enrich your academic experience and give you some international experience, an overseas education can also be the key to a good career.

In this ever-increasingly borderless world, major companies not only want employees with good skills but also a good command of the English language, in addition to a good knowledge of international affairs.

This might be the reason why English speaking countries such as the United States, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, or even the Netherlands, where is English is widely spoken, have become the main destinations for Indonesian students studying abroad.

If you are thinking about pursuing your studies in one of these countries, one of the most important things you can do is carefully consider the costs.

Total education costs vary widely from one university to another. In the United States, which is home to thousands of good universities, study costs, which include tuition and living expenses, can range between US$25,000 (about Rp 237.5 million) and $70,000 a year.

The average annual tuition at private universities in the low- cost category is $15,000, while it is about $25,000 in the high- cost category. Annual tuition at state institutions in the low- cost category is $10,000, and $20,000 in the high-cost category.

The approximate annual living expense in the U.S. is $10,000, which includes accommodation and daily expenses.

At Princeton University, for example, the annual estimated total cost of study is US$41,380 (about Rp 393 million). This includes $29,910 for tuition, $8,387 for room and board and $3,083 for "miscellaneous expenses" like books, said Erica Syarif, education advice service coordinator at the American- Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF).

"However, studying at the State University of New York will cost you about $20,000 a year," she added.

In Canada, total study expenses, including tuition and living expenses, range from C$20,000 (about Rp 160 million) to C$25,000.

According to the Canadian Education Center (CEE), studying in Canada costs less than studying in other Commonwealth countries like the UK, Australia and New Zealand, because the government subsidizes education.

"With the government's high subsidy for national education, automatically study costs at universities are relatively low for international students," said Ade, a spokesperson for the CEE.

While the government subsidy for national education in Canada also benefits international students, many universities in the United Kingdom offer competitive study prices because the UK degree programs are generally shorter than in other countries. A full-time master's degree course in the UK is only one year compared to two in most other countries.

Tuition for international students in the UK ranges from 8,050 pounds sterling (about Rp 145 million) to 19,100 pounds sterling a year, depending on the program.

Living costs in the UK depend on the city and the lifestyle, but are roughly between 7,725 pounds sterling and 8,240 pounds sterling per year, according an information provided by www.man.ac.uk, a website specializing in study in the UK.

International students studying in the Netherlands can benefit from the government's education subsidy, which will be valid until 2006.

"The subsidized tuition fee in the country can reach as high as 75 percent," said the director of the Netherlands Education Center (NEC), Ad de Leeuw.

With the subsidy, annual tuition at universities in Holland range from 1,450 euros (about Rp 17.4 million) to 8,150 euros, depending on the field of study. For example, annual tuition for the Media Entertainment Management program at NHTV University in Breda is 1,445 euros, compared with the 8,150 euros charged by TU Delft University for an engineering program.

Living costs in the Netherlands are between 700 euros and 800 euros per month, or about 9,000 euros per year. "The amount of the living costs can cover housing and daily expenses, such as for meals and transportation," Leeuw said.

In cosmopolitan cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam, students spend more on their living costs compared to small cities like Wageningen and Arnhem.

He said most international students, including Indonesians studying for less than a year, lived in fully furnished student flats. "That is more beneficial for them and costs between 300 euros and 450 euros a month. But for students who will be studying for longer than one year, it is more cost-efficient to live in a non-furnished student apartment. This will cost an average of 250 euros a month."

Students can buy furniture from other students who have just graduated and are going back to their countries, or from second- hand shops, he said.

Students interested in pursuing their studies in Australia should be prepared to pay at least A$33,500 (about Rp 250 million) in tuition and living costs per year.

The average monthly living cost in Australia is A$1,600 (about Rp 12 million), which will afford students a standard lifestyle. "Big cities obviously have higher living standards than smaller towns," said IDP Indonesia's International Student Unit manager Richard F. Papilaya.

Tuition varies depending on the type of courses and the popularity of the courses taken.

Tuition at New Zealand's universities also vary from one institution to another. A student studying for an undergraduate degree in engineering will have to pay about NZ$17,000 (about Rp 119 million) in tuition a year. Another student in a non- engineering undergraduate field will pay about NZ$15,000 per year, said the acting post manager of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise at the New Zealand Embassy in Jakarta

Despite the different types of accommodation available in various countries, most Indonesian students prefer to live in a student dormitory or to share a room in an apartment to save on living expenses, said Lily Hasan, head of business development at Edlink-Connex, an international education consultancy.

Many Indonesian students in the Netherlands and the UK take part-time jobs to earn extra money. In the Netherlands, international students are allowed to work for up to 10 hours per week during school holidays, while during the summer holiday they can work full-time, or 40 hours per week.

According to the work regulations in the United Kingdom, international students can work up to 20 hours a week when school is in session and full-time during the holidays.

The cost of studying abroad can be extremely high by Indonesian standards, but compared with the benefits of an overseas education the price is rather fair.