How I Moved to England for Grad School (and paid less than in the u.s.)

Have you ever dreamed about living abroad, earning a degree, and having the adventure of a lifetime — without drowning in student debt? That was me a few years ago. I knew I wanted to continue my education, and travel, but the cost of grad school in the U.S. felt completely out of reach. That’s when I found the Across the Pond program, which helped me relocate and go to England for grad school. I obtained my Master’s degree in the UK, and paid less than I’d pay back home.

Across the Pond is a completely free resource that provides personalized guidance for international students who are interested in obtaining an undergraduate or postgraduate education at some of the best universities in the United Kingdom (UK). You read that right – it’s free. When I first learned about this program, I was definitely skeptical about its legitimacy because let’s face it, when it comes to getting a university-level degree in the United States, not even the application process is free. Needless to say, Across the Pond is legitimate, and my guidance counselors were very helpful throughout the application process for both the UK’s student visa and the school applications.

After figuring out that Across the Pond was in fact ‘legit,’ I had to weigh out some options to determine whether or not going to the UK to get my M.A. degree would make the most sense, financially. I had already paid about $400 studying and applying for the GRE (which is a prerequisite one needs to fulfill before applying to a graduate program at a university in the United States), and I shoveled out about $300 just to apply to the graduate programs I was considering at Boston University (BU) and other schools. I received the good news that I had been accepted at BU, and then learned that the tuition alone for one year would be $70,000. A Masters Degree at BU would take me at least two years to obtain – that is, if I could handle a full-time school schedule and a job simultaneously. On top of that, Boston is a pricy city to live in. I knew that I would certainly struggle financially, even if I took out a student loan.

Conversely, with Across the Pond, I learned that I did not have to take a GRE or any other test before applying to a graduate school in any of the UK’s countries (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland). At the time, I was told that international student applicants could pick five UK universities out of over 70 to choose from (and I did not have to pay for those applications either). The student advisors did a great job of helping me narrow down my search for the best universities in England that aligned with my goals at the time, and every university I applied to accepted my applications due to UK universities’ high acceptance rates. Win-win!  

(If you want to know more about the funny way I narrowed down where and what to study, you can check out another post I wrote, here.)

So let’s cut to the chase – how much did tuition at the University of Leeds cost? It cost £18,500.00 or about $25,400 USD. I was able to apply for, and receive, a student loan of $56,368 administered by the U.S. Department of Education even though I was studying abroad. This student loan amount covered the tuition payments, health coverage, housing, food, and my travels to other countries while I was in the UK. 

Everyone’s situation is different, but to give you a better idea of how I went about finances, I want to add that I did not have a job while I was attending the University of Leeds. The student visa I received did allow me to work a part-time job, but I decided not to because I wanted to dedicate my time to studying for my classes and traveling when able. 

I pursued my graduate degree a bit ‘later’ in my life in comparison to my peers in England and I enjoy my own company, so I opted to find my own housing. I lived in a studio just steps away from the city center and it took me about 15 minutes to walk to the University of Leeds. My apartment complex included all utilities in the rent, and had multiple communal areas such as a small gym, study room, laundry room, cinema room, and it had a front desk concierge. From July 7, 2019, to August 28, 2020, the total I was set to pay was £11,036, or about $15,140 USD. This came down to about $1,165 per month. To give you an idea of how much more expensive Boston is, I would have been lucky to find a bedroom in a shared house for this monthly price. If I wanted to live on my own and go to BU, a studio without included utilities would have been well over $2,000 a month. 

*If you’re interested in learning more information about the studios I lived in when I was in Leeds, they were called “Pennine House.”

The average Master’s Degree in the United States (US) takes 2 years to complete, while it only takes 1 year to complete in the UK. Similarly, many of my peers went on to pursue their doctorate degrees, which take about 3 years to complete in the UK vs. 5+ years in the US.

If I had known from the beginning how much money and time I was going to save, and the amount of stress I was going to avoid by applying to postgrad degrees with Across the Pond, I wouldn’t have even gone through the US application process. If you’re interested in getting a graduate degree in another English-speaking country at a fraction of the cost and in half the amount of time, I suggest you start by clicking here and contacting the Across the Pond team. This was one of the best decisions I ever made, and it might be yours too!