Deciding Where to Study Abroad

The second most important factor for our respondents was ‘cultural interest and lifestyle’ – chosen by more than 15% as a key motivation when deciding where to study. This is probably one of the most fun aspects to consider when planning your study abroad experience – encompassing everything from the local climate and popular activities to the size of city you want to be in, languages spoken, and even very specific things such as how close you’ll be to a ski slope or what kind of live music venues are around. It’s also quite a tough aspect to research without physically travelling to the place, but you could start with some of our student-focused country guides.

No surprises here – third on our respondents’ priority list was the availability of scholarships and student funding in general. Different study abroad destinations can vary a lot when it comes to tuition fees and overall living expenses, and also in terms of how much financial support is available for international students. So before setting your heart irreversibly on one particular country, make sure you’ve taken into account the costs and student funding options; you may find that a different location is just as good a match for your academic and lifestyle requirements, but at a fraction of the price.

The fourth factor our survey respondents cited when deciding where to study abroad was that they’d like to stay and work nearby after completing their degree. Of course you may plan on returning home after graduating – but then you never know, you might change your mind and decide you want to stay on after all. And with many countries worldwide still reporting high unemployment levels, it could be good forward planning to think about which locations are likely to offer the best employment prospects. You should also check the current regulations on international student visas and work permits, and whether there are any plans to change these. Many countries have made it relatively easy for international students to stay on and seek employment prospects, but this is not always the case.

These are the top four answers to one of the questions we asked graduate degree applicants worldwide as part of our recent report on International Trends in Student Mobility. Download the full report to see respondents’ top 10 priorities when deciding where to study, and to find out how this list has changed over the last five years.