The Education Price Index 2022

A Study by N26

A group of three MBA students point to a laptop in a library while laughing.

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.


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.


1	Prague	Czechia	-14	-33	-28	90	96	100	89	100
2	Tokyo	Japan	16	6	27	89	100	91	87	96
3	Amsterdam	Netherlands	80	16	20	88	94	92	96	96
4	Madrid	Spain	1	-9	-14	85	97	91	89	95
5	Reykjavik	Iceland	65	55	48	100	83	91	91	95
6	Berlin	Germany	3	-14	-1	82	97	92	92	95
7	Edinburgh	Scotland	32	5	15	86	89	94	90	94
8	Tallinn	Estonia	-39	-20	-20	96	88	89	78	94
9	Vienna	Austria	-8	6	-8	89	85	91	92	93
10	Copenhagen	Denmark	83	45	26	94	84	82	100	93
11	London	England	173	22	56	79	95	96	92	92
12	Barcelona	Spain	3	-6	-10	80	98	84	92	92
13	Athens	Greece	-50	-16	-16	78	95	97	77	92
14	Paris	France	43	28	9	77	94	93	89	91
15	Singapore	Singapore	115	19	27	98	93	77	81	91
16	Lisbon	Portugal	-10	-33	-22	85	93	81	87	91
17	Vilnius	Lithuania	-40	-33	-26	91	88	87	77	91
18	Riga	Latvia	-49	-31	-24	85	88	85	86	90
19	Helsinki	Finland	31	22	15	97	78	82	87	90
20	Brno	Czechia	-34	-41	-32	89	88	75	88	89
21	Bologna	Italy	-25	-3	-9	78	92	90	83	89
22	Rome	Italy	17	9	-6	77	97	92	77	89
23	Valencia	Spain	-29	-15	-21	86	84	81	89	89
24	Florence	Italy	-8	2	-9	80	88	88	85	88
25	Zurich	Switzerland	96	88	71	92	80	81	94	88
26	Cologne	Germany	-11	-5	0	81	94	81	84	88
27	Oslo	Norway	51	60	43	92	80	84	86	88
28	Glasgow	Scotland	4	-11	12	82	88	83	87	88
29	New York	USA	216	66	69	77	93	94	84	88
30	Dresden	Germany	-40	-20	-14	84	79	87	87	88
31	Dubai	UAE	70	27	35	97	95	68	79	88
32	Milan	Italy	19	9	-1	79	86	87	88	88
33	Osaka	Japan	-32	-12	4	86	89	82	78	88
34	Dublin	Ireland	87	13	47	86	90	87	76	87
35	Toronto	Canada	77	23	37	85	91	86	78	87
36	Stockholm	Sweden	31	17	14	89	78	80	90	87
37	Gothenburg	Sweden	-3	7	2	88	82	80	86	87
38	Nantes	France	-37	2	-10	73	89	87	86	87
39	Bristol	England	45	-1	14	83	80	83	90	86
40	Sofia	Bulgaria	-59	-45	-43	80	96	78	74	86
41	Warsaw	Poland	-36	-47	-43	86	90	83	67	86
42	Saint Petersburg	Russia	-50	-40	-36	72	86	97	73	86
43	Hamburg	Germany	35	1	15	80	80	87	87	86
44	Munich	Germany	38	9	2	88	80	85	78	86
45	Montreal	Canada	-8	25	15	88	75	83	83	85
46	Raleigh	USA	32	13	3	81	81	89	80	85
47	Cardiff	Wales	-11	-8	-8	84	79	81	83	85
48	Krakow	Poland	-42	-50	-44	85	90	81	63	85
49	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-4	-3	9	82	81	83	80	85
50	Seoul	South Korea	-4	5	-14	88	80	77	81	84
51	Ottawa	Canada	16	9	20	88	74	82	84	84
52	Vancouver	Canada	78	44	32	86	77	85	82	84
53	Tel Aviv	Israel	74	43	25	88	87	77	75	84
54	Aachen	Germany	-28	-13	-9	84	69	79	94	84
55	Lyon	France	-7	17	0	78	78	87	84	84
56	Brussels	Belgium	2	12	6	82	80	82	81	84
57	Montpellier	France	-19	4	-5	76	80	84	83	84
58	The Hague	Netherlands	24	11	-3	90	68	76	90	83
59	San Francisco	USA	228	61	48	75	91	86	81	83
60	Santiago	Chile	-56	-29	-36	74	90	79	77	83
61	Lviv	Ukraine	-71	-63	-63	76	78	78	87	83
62	Newcastle	England	-6	-12	8	80	78	80	86	83
63	Buenos Aires	Argentina	-71	-36	-45	70	94	85	69	83
64	Washington	USA	136	45	41	74	94	84	77	83
65	Manchester	England	28	-4	6	77	78	78	91	83
66	Beijing	China	-1	-22	-7	73	92	73	82	82
67	Columbus	USA	15	1	5	78	67	85	91	82
68	Los Angeles	USA	136	49	37	77	94	88	63	82
69	Miami	USA	113	40	27	75	92	79	78	82
70	Stuttgart	Germany	0	-3	-8	85	72	81	75	81
71	Chicago	USA	86	26	39	70	76	92	82	81
72	Sao Paulo	Brazil	-47	-37	-20	60	88	92	73	81
73	Leeds	England	33	-12	14	82	76	76	81	80
74	Seattle	USA	101	40	36	77	73	85	84	80
75	Bucharest	Romania	-58	-41	-41	81	85	79	60	80
76	Auckland	New Zealand	35	17	49	84	75	82	72	80
77	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	149	30	19	85	83	67	81	80
78	Denver	USA	89	38	33	78	75	86	77	80
79	Melbourne	Australia	41	27	61	80	76	80	76	79
80	Boston	USA	152	38	34	81	67	84	81	78
81	Sydney	Australia	91	17	71	83	75	81	68	78
82	Bangkok	Thailand	-45	-28	-27	67	94	68	73	78
83	Philadelphia	USA	43	32	29	72	69	86	80	78
84	Atlanta	USA	60	8	20	72	69	84	81	77
85	Istanbul	Turkey	-69	-55	-56	71	71	87	67	77
86	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	-50	-41	-41	73	92	63	64	76
87	Kingston	Jamaica	-59	-18	-24	76	61	68	84	73
88	Shanghai	China	0	-1	-10	73	66	68	82	73
89	Detroit	USA	0	6	9	68	62	82	76	72
90	San Jose	Costa Rica	-43	-32	-24	76	62	70	72	71
91	Bogota	Colombia	-63	-58	-51	57	80	75	66	71
92	Mexico City	Mexico	-42	-35	-35	57	74	75	68	69
93	Chennai	India	-79	-54	-63	63	59	68	77	67
94	Nanjing	China	-51	-35	-40	78	55	52	81	67
95	Cape Town	South Africa	-31	-40	-32	54	69	66	74	65
96	Cairo	Egypt	-80	-60	-57	71	60	56	69	65
97	Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	-27	-39	7	79	50	50	81	65
98	Jakarta	Indonesia	-59	-42	-40	68	56	62	65	63
99	New Delhi	India	-76	-53	-56	56	58	55	68	58
100	Lagos	Nigeria	-6	-46	-41	50	55	55	50	50

Methodology

The Education Price Index 2022 reveals the cost of a university education in countries around the world, with a special focus on six common degree subjects: medicine, nursing, law, civil engineering, software development, and teaching. It also analyzes the livability for students of 100 cities in the countries under consideration.

Country selection
Typical University Fees for Domestic Students
Salary levels per profession
Top Universities Score
Financials of Education: Cost of One Year at University
Financials of Education: Years to Pay Off Tuition
Financials of Education: Minimum Wage Hours to Afford a Degree
Financials of Education: Junior & Senior salary levels
Education Costs and Typical Salaries: Doctor
Education Costs and Typical Salaries: Nurse
Education Costs and Typical Salaries: Lawyer
Education Costs and Typical Salaries: Civil Engineer
Education Costs and Typical Salaries: Software Developer
Education Costs and Typical Salaries: Teacher
Cost of Living and Livability: City selection & Scoring procedure
Cost of living: Student housing, Food Basket & Other expenses
Livability: Student Safety, Nightlife, Culture & Smart Mobility

Press Media Enquire

Press Media Enquire For any questions regarding the methodology behind this project, please reach out to press@n26.com.

The Education Price Index 2022

The higher education landscape

The research process

The university price index

City livability

Methodology

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