It’s no secret that the U.S. dollar doesn’t go as far overseas as it used to. The sheer cost of a semester overseas can be a great deterrent to those who would most benefit from such an experience.
Well, there is good news. First, you are likely to find that the high tuition costs associated with college and university attendance in the U.S. are not an issue in most other countries. In nations such as Germany, Denmark and Sweden, college is virtually free for qualified students. (The flip side is that relatively few students do qualify; whereas college in the U.S. is available to nearly anyone who can pay for it, in European countries as well as Japan and Korea, admission is granted only after a student has passed extremely rigorous and difficult exams.)
There is however everyday living costs to consider. Chances are that even if you are a matriculated student at a foreign university, government laws and regulations in these countries will not allow you to engage in any sort of paid employment (of course, as in the U.S., there are employers who are willing to pay an illegal worker “under the table” ‘ but this is highly inadvisable).