To help students make informed financial decisions, The Mobile Bank N26 analyzed the cost of higher education in 50 countries around the world—including the cost of studying to become a Doctor, Nurse, Lawyer, Civil Engineer, Software Developer, or Teacher. Plus, the study features the typical local salaries for graduates of each degree and ranks 100 popular student cities for their livability and cost of living.
With classes disrupted and remote learning as the new norm, we all saw major changes in the world of higher education over the last few years. As pandemic restrictions loosen and the next generation of students prepares to start university, we’ve put together The Education Price Index: an in-depth analysis of how higher education costs differ around the world. It’s all to help students make smart financial choices when planning their futures. The study also compares data on the cost of living, tuition fees, levels of student debt, and graduate salaries, with a focus on six globally comparable degree subjects.
The higher education landscape
Around 40% of people globally now go on to higher education after finishing secondary school—the highest level ever. A university education can open doors to greater career opportunities and better remuneration, but it can also come at a significant financial cost. In some countries, university students receive free tuition or only pay admin costs, while in others they pay tuition fees that vary depending on whether the university is public or private. Add living costs and other expenses, and the price of getting a degree can rack up quickly.We looked at the cost of higher education in 50 countries, which we chose because of their renowned universities and comparable education data. Our research included looking at tuition fees as well as living costs and livability in different locations around the world.
The research process
To compare the cost of higher education in each country, we analyzed the tuition fees of six common degree subjects: medicine, nursing, law, civil engineering, software development, and teaching. For each subject, we researched the annual tuition fees and calculated the total cost of completing the necessary degree(s). We also wanted to gauge the financial implications of studying different subjects, so we determined graduates’ typical salary prospects.Since financial accessibility is a key topic in higher education around the world, we assessed the affordability of a university education in each country. We calculated how long it takes for someone on an average income to pay back their tuition fees, as well as for someone earning minimum wage.With high inflation affecting people’s spending power, we also evaluated student living costs in 100 prominent university cities around the world—an important consideration for students across the globe. We analyzed the cost of student housing, food, and other expenses in each city, to find out where it’s most and least affordable to maintain a typical student lifestyle.And because we know that a student’s university experience is about more than just studying, we also ranked the livability of each city for students. We considered factors like student safety, the quality of cultural attractions and nightlife, and the level of smart mobility.The final results compare the higher education landscape in countries and cities around the world.The full methodology explaining how we calculated each factor can be found at the bottom of the page.
The university price index
The table below compares the quality of universities in each country, as well as degree tuition costs, affordability, and the salaries that graduates usually earn after university. The icons indicate whether each column is presented as a score (all scores are out of 100, with 100 being the highest and 50 the lowest possible score); a metric of time (years or hours); or cost (€).Click on the top of each column to sort from highest to lowest.
University Price Index: Global Comparison of Costs
1
USA
100
19
12264
27091
59456
113268
270588
159093
51781
65102
228321
99697
127124
69974
73082
88130
106006
47942
2
UAE
87
14
25496
12535
43363
79867
130750
99824
19937
37837
66740
106991
66074
44943
35578
52084
30184
39160
3
England
96
12
3215
11405
37460
66806
66442
87928
38758
40690
62313
71656
48845
42900
38758
50094
49832
36291
4
Wales
90
9
2941
10834
46805
83484
53872
116379
37710
46770
54231
91468
50640
55135
37710
58916
47527
43451
5
Israel
87
14
4158
9442
29911
56982
53039
62216
33752
32768
50696
47413
46592
34358
28931
58996
38574
30546
6
Scotland
94
10
2897
9305
41117
73070
10894
94650
7626
45603
33484
80684
32150
47119
7626
51825
8715
41484
7
Canada
94
8
3642
9176
47833
90994
104575
125226
17406
54914
64345
84474
47502
52832
17385
60871
35028
45978
8
Singapore
96
10
7730
9112
43641
80207
120069
102478
24067
39956
55956
89663
37729
52614
29005
55512
19065
38722
9
Japan
92
9
3470
8132
37963
72067
101806
98289
24629
40026
38010
91143
47701
31919
33337
47528
31398
31863
10
Jamaica
87
28
30479
8055
13250
24573
26872
33826
19188
14557
41826
22203
41382
15016
24840
16972
8720
12312
11
Ireland
90
8
2455
7231
41605
78274
39395
122722
20548
40675
29634
61058
51836
46606
20923
52527
19386
38795
12
Australia
95
5
1490
5939
51048
96902
47927
130008
13633
53229
12950
83243
32343
65419
18436
68786
21291
52967
13
Chile
83
11
9004
5757
24975
46620
46782
62666
18440
21771
28860
42434
30819
31964
21971
30451
15234
28934
14
New Zealand
91
5
2017
5439
46013
87427
51305
116651
18677
48752
22465
83561
28463
55150
15859
60974
15340
43138
15
Brazil
86
13
12406
5314
17842
32148
92467
44762
12885
14092
30855
31978
32584
23595
13784
25635
14195
17264
16
Hong Kong
94
4
3629
4988
49676
90982
27435
117925
17459
48725
24941
116225
27435
50164
17459
51750
24941
47284
17
Spain
90
8
2453
4882
27945
51090
38224
53092
16031
35146
21091
46763
25328
39699
20881
34666
17473
29001
18
Northern Ireland
89
4
1393
4069
46150
82061
27415
105283
19190
50058
27415
89239
20430
54354
19190
62170
21932
44329
19
South Africa
89
8
10038
3862
21642
39259
28851
59553
10197
18235
20247
36090
24344
26964
9049
33576
11078
16711
20
Russia
87
17
12588
3780
9400
17679
20620
17377
2794
7159
19053
12874
24734
16856
11242
20849
16987
6275
21
South Korea
90
5
1537
3655
34860
63618
24747
95094
10900
35174
14478
66316
21171
44039
12068
41088
10556
29988
22
Malaysia
84
10
7901
3396
14891
28346
53951
34535
7346
12689
17115
27567
10165
17743
6581
22491
9300
18054
23
Mexico
79
10
13084
3364
13964
26036
37902
25642
12446
18349
11841
27050
18874
16993
12570
22673
3704
12339
24
Italy
92
4
1344
2834
29636
54776
14068
84598
11583
40830
14244
47028
15441
32955
11583
36149
11726
24375
25
India
87
16
32021
2816
7774
14233
42599
12388
4312
10710
5363
13394
27785
10531
37141
13141
3809
7173
26
France
92
4
932
2785
31192
58875
9068
63893
1690
37474
6079
57315
8023
43618
6050
42205
5427
30444
27
Indonesia
76
9
12885
2316
11033
20640
55130
23054
3561
11979
8409
23480
16311
12777
7377
16278
6129
9603
28
Netherlands
94
3
760
2210
39704
75830
12153
91084
7734
44546
11048
65413
12153
50270
7734
57175
8839
42305
29
Poland
82
4
1610
1686
16879
32874
46396
49178
5534
14842
6816
24075
4378
18110
5831
28924
3163
16168
30
Belgium
93
1
506
1555
50651
91263
8155
152906
5189
48303
7631
89411
8372
58833
5189
56055
7631
40944
31
Ukraine
79
8
4906
1416
8484
15599
7069
20823
2655
7396
9100
16506
6792
9960
4169
12340
3987
6724
32
Switzerland
95
1
198
1373
81776
146116
7550
200197
4805
81212
6178
158926
6178
94600
4805
106643
6864
78712
33
Lithuania
77
2
982
1095
21401
39458
5367
46221
3084
24914
4992
41719
6095
19568
3118
32269
5214
21217
34
China
94
1
2742
1008
30726
58947
3961
73537
2520
43940
4465
49287
4825
33711
2520
37003
4825
34593
35
Portugal
87
2
705
991
22048
39508
4315
54518
2440
20727
4036
41246
4490
27325
2440
29105
4166
21328
36
Iceland
90
1
197
919
47686
101664
2961
155516
1884
58694
4403
101261
4814
63677
2881
70325
2692
46352
37
Romania
78
2
852
789
14350
26687
9014
33798
4249
14092
3642
26391
3339
15183
2833
24036
2964
11673
38
Argentina
71
2
925
551
12243
21932
4109
23846
937
8782
4198
32624
3793
12499
2043
15260
1280
12423
39
Germany
95
1
166
499
31931
67900
2743
82086
1746
35601
2494
70761
2743
46292
1746
53554
2494
43278
40
Bulgaria
72
1
666
368
14416
26222
2601
35294
1289
15434
2045
29034
1969
14656
1611
22627
1355
11728
41
Greece
86
1
217
311
20469
36628
0
48913
0
20796
1801
36300
1000
26277
0
27681
0
19900
42
Nigeria
81
1
868
161
13086
24759
901
42498
574
12504
780
17273
901
18661
574
14415
546
8683
43
Norway
91
0
25
125
45598
96795
685
125811
436
54324
623
97658
685
71955
436
69428
623
53394
44
Austria
89
0
15
41
41595
75558
228
94588
145
49668
207
79206
228
46425
145
51560
207
33491
45
Turkey
84
0
41
24
9804
17936
165
21978
110
6353
138
21725
141
11078
110
14383
110
9560
46
Czechia
84
0
0
0
19134
34393
0
41815
0
17713
0
39358
0
20467
0
30570
0
19838
47
Denmark
92
0
0
0
52045
97223
0
113939
0
56998
0
97586
0
69810
0
69537
0
51084
48
Finland
91
0
0
0
43119
79728
0
110929
0
40502
0
72051
0
58136
0
54664
0
39178
49
Saudi Arabia
86
0
0
0
32405
59375
0
67859
0
25958
0
83141
0
36173
0
42164
0
28368
50
Sweden
92
0
0
0
34430
65569
0
76278
0
31644
0
61533
0
44604
0
53257
0
38182
City livability
The table below compares the cost of living and livability of cities around the world for students. The ‘Cost of Living’ columns are presented as a deviation from the dataset median. A lower deviation from the median indicates a cheaper price, while a higher deviation from the median indicates a higher price.The ‘Livability’ columns are presented as a score (all scores are out of 100, with 100 being the highest and 50 the lowest possible score).Click on the top of each column to sort from highest to lowest.