The Education Price Index 2022

The countries in the study were chosen as a result of their renowned universities and comparable price information. Every continent is represented in the selection.

University fees for specialist degrees were collected for six career paths: Medical doctors, Nurses, Lawyers, Civil Engineers, Software Developers and Teachers. For all specialist degrees:

• The fees were collected for citizens of the country; in the case of the USA the fees were collected for residents of the state in which the universities are located;
• Only tuition fees and university administrative fees were collected, and do not include dormitory fees or other costs of living.
• Additional training costs (e.g. training at a hospital or law firm) were not taken into account.

For each country considered, the country's tertiary education system was classified as either:

• Nationally regulated university fees
• Fees set by each institution, primarily public universities
• Fees set by each institution, mixed public and private universities

For countries with nationally regulated university fees, the fees for each specialist degree was established through review of the guidance provided by the responsible national educational bodies and by the universities themselves.

For countries where fees are set by each institution, a sample of up to six universities were selected from internationally competitive universities. Internationally competitive universities were identified through well-established university ranking directories Times Higher Education and QS Top Universities.

For countries with primarily public universities, the sample of universities was selected from public universities. For countries with a mix of public and private universities–defined as a country where more than 20% of students are enrolled with private universities–an additional sample of up to six private universities was selected and typical university fees were separately established for public and private universities.

A full list of universities and educational bodies used as sources can be provided on request.

To calculate the overall education cost of each career path, the typical length of study for each country was provided by the World Higher Education Database (UNESCO/International Association of Universities). The overall costs assume that students graduate without repeats or extensions.

Typical salaries were collected for six professions: Medical doctors, Nurses, Lawyers, Civil Engineers, Software Developers and Teachers. Official data on wages were collected from:

• USA: BLS (US. Bureau of Labour Statistics)
• Europe: Eurostat
• Other OECD countries: OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
• Other countries: ILO (International Labour Organization)

The industry and professional definitions used for each profession are outlined below in the per-factor notes.

From the broad official data on wages, granular estimates of specific professions, as well as junior/senior wage differences, were developed using aggregate estimates from salary comparison websites Glassdoor, Payscale, SalaryExplorer, SalaryExpert, Teleport, Gehalt.de and Salary.com.

Junior Salaries are defined and calculated as a weighted average of the salaries after 0-2 years of experience (80% weight) and 2-5 years of experience (20% weight). Senior Salaries are defined and calculated as a weighted average of the salaries after 10-15 years of experience (25% weight), 15-20 years of experience (50% weight) and 20+ years of experience (25% weight). For each profession, Junior and Senior salary coefficients were calculated from the ratio of Junior and Senior salaries against average salaries presented on salary comparison websites. The final Junior and Senior salary estimates were calculated by applying the coefficients against the average salaries of each profession.

Overall Junior Salary Levels: an aggregate of Junior salaries was constructed as the average of the Junior salaries of the six professions.

Overall Senior Salary Levels: an aggregate of Senior salaries was constructed as the average of the Junior salaries of the six professions.

A score that reflects the presence of top-ranked universities in each country. A higher score means the country has a greater presence of top-ranked universities. The score is constructed from three underlying indicators:

1. The highest scoring university present in each country;
2. The total score of high scoring universities in each country;
3. The average score of high scoring universities in each country, adjusted for the number of enrolled students.

Sources: Times Higher Education; QS Top Universities; World Bank Education Statistics.

The typical cost of tuition and administrative fees for one academic year. The results show the representative cost of studying for one year, and is the mean of the six degree subjects covered in the study. The factor is computed according to the following formula:

The Cost of Education for each Specialist Degree is estimated using the methodology described above under “Typical University Fees for Domestic Students”.

The number of years it takes a graduate to pay back the full university tuition fee, as an indicator of the Burden of Student Debt. The calculation assumes a student earns a typical Junior level salary and allocates 5% of their post-graduate income to paying off tuition fee debt. The factor is computed according to the following formula:

The Cost of one year at university is defined above; typical course length of each career path is collected using the methodology described above under “Typical University Fees for Domestic Students”.

The number of hours a person earning the minimum wage must work to be able to pay for a full university degree. The indicator imagines that a student’s parent, and family’s sole breadwinner, works to finance the tuition and administrative fees of their child’s university education. The factor is computed according to the following formula:

The Cost of one year at university is defined above; typical course length of each career path is collected using the methodology described above under “Typical University Fees for Domestic Students”

Hourly Minimum Wage for each country was collected from ILO. For countries that do not have a legally mandated minimum wage, the salary of an entry level services profession such as cleaners or fast food cashiers were used instead.

A full list of estimated minimum wage for countries without legally mandated minimum wage can be provided on request.

- Junior Salary Level: The aggregate of Junior Salaries of all professions considered; overall Junior Salary Levels are estimated using the methodology described above under “Salary levels per profession".

- Senior Salary Level: The aggregate of Senior Salaries of all professions considered; overall Senior Salary Levels are estimated using the methodology described above under “Salary levels per profession".

- Cost of Becoming a Doctor:

The tuition fees plus university administrative fees for specialist degrees for medical doctors were collected according to the methodology described above under “Typical University Fees for Domestic Students”.

• A typical degree in many countries is a 5.5 year Bachelor of Science degree such as “Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery” (e.g. MBBS, MB ChB, MB BCh).
• For some countries with different degree formats, adjustments were made accordingly (in the case of the US, 4 years for a Bachelor’s degree and 4 years for a degree titled medical doctor).

- Salary of a Doctor:

The typical salary of a doctor was estimated according to the methodology described above under “Salary levels per profession”.

• For the USA, official numbers were provided by BLS using professional category 29-1210-Physicians.
• For European countries, industry level wages were provided by Eurostat, using the industrial NASCE category Q86-Human health activities.
• For other OECD countries, industry level wages were provided by OECD, using the industrial ISCED-2011 category 7-Health and welfare.
• For all other countries, the industry level wages were provided by ILO, using the industrial ISIC-Rev.4 category Q.-Human health and social work activities

- Cost of Becoming a Nurse:

The tuition fees plus university administrative fees for specialist degrees for Nurse were collected according to the methodology described above under “Typical University Fees for Domestic Students”.

• A typical degree in many countries is a 5.5 year Bachelor of Science degree such as “Bachelor of Nursing”.

- Salary of a Nurse:

The typical salary of a Nurse was estimated according to the methodology described above under “Salary levels per profession”.

• For the USA, official numbers were provided by BLS using professional category 29-1141-Registered Nurses.
• For European countries, industry level wages were provided by Eurostat, using the industrial NASCE category Q86-Human health activities.
• For other OECD countries, industry level wages were provided by OECD, using the industrial ISCED-2011 category 7-Health and welfare.
• For all other countries, the industry level wages were provided by ILO, using the industrial ISIC-Rev.4 category Q.-Human health and social work activities.

- Cost of Becoming a Lawyer:

The tuition fees plus university administrative fees for specialist degrees for Lawyers were collected according to the methodology described above under “Typical University Fees for Domestic Students”.

• A typical degree in many countries is a 3.5 year Bachelor of Arts degree like “Bachelor of Laws (LL.B)” and a consecutive 1.5 year Master of Arts degree like “Master of Arts (LL.M)”.
• For some countries with different degree formats, adjustments were made accordingly.

- Salary of a Lawyer:

The typical salary of a Lawyer was estimated according to the methodology described above under “Salary levels per profession”.

• For the USA, official numbers were provided by BLS using professional category 23-1011-Lawyers.
• For European countries, industry level wages were provided by Eurostat, using the industrial NASCE category M69-Legal and accounting activities.
• For other OECD countries, industry level wages were provided by OECD, using the industrial ISCED-2011 category 3-Social sciences, business and law.
• For all other countries, the industry level wages were provided by ILO, using the industrial ISIC-Rev.4 category M.-Professional, scientific and technical activities.

- Cost of Becoming a Civil Engineer:

The tuition fees plus university administrative fees for specialist degrees for Civil Engineer were collected according to the methodology described above under “Typical University Fees for Domestic Students”.

• In many countries, there are several ways of becoming an engineer: This study typically takes into account a 4 years Bachelor of Science degree such as “Bachelor of Science Civil Engineering” and a Master of Science degree such as “Master of Civil Engineering” (1.5 years).
• For some countries with different degree formats, adjustments were made accordingly.

- Salary of a Civil Engineer:

The typical salary of a Civil Engineer was estimated according to the methodology described above under “Salary levels per profession”.

• For the USA, official numbers were provided by BLS using professional category 17-2051-Civil Engineers.
• For European countries, industry level wages were provided by Eurostat, using the industrial NASCE category F42-Civil Engineering.
• For other OECD countries, industry level wages were provided by OECD, using the industrial ISCED-2011 category 5-Engineering, manufacturing and construction.
• For all other countries, the industry level wages were provided by ILO, using the industrial ISIC-Rev.4 category F.-Construction

- Cost of Becoming a Software Developer:

The tuition fees plus university administrative fees for specialist degrees for Software Developers were collected according to the methodology described above under “Typical University Fees for Domestic Students”.

• A typical degree in many countries is a 3.5 year Bachelor of Science degree such as “Computer Science”.

- Salary of a Software Developer:

The typical salary of a Software Developer was estimated according to the methodology described above under “Salary levels per profession”.

• For the USA, official numbers were provided by BLS using the professional category 15-1252-Software Developers.
• For European countries, industry level wages were provided by Eurostat, using the industrial NASCE category J62-Computer programming.
• For other OECD countries, industry level wages were provided by OECD, using the industrial ISCED-2011 category 4-Science.
• For all other countries, the industry level wages were provided by ILO, using the industrial ISIC-Rev.4 category J.-Information and communication and P.-Education.

- Cost of Becoming a Teacher:

The tuition fees plus university administrative fees for specialist degrees for Teachers were collected according to the methodology described above under “Typical University Fees for Domestic Students”.

• A typical degree in many countries is a 3.5 year Bachelor of Arts degree like “Bachelor of Education” and a consecutive 1.5 year Master of Arts degree like “Master of Education”.
• For some countries with different degree formats, adjustments were made accordingly.

- Salary of a Teacher:

The typical salary of a Teacher was estimated according to the methodology described above under “Salary levels per profession”.

• For the USA, official numbers were provided by BLS using the professional category 25-0000-Educational Instruction and Library Occupations.
• For European countries, industry level wages were provided by Eurostat, using the industrial NASCE category P85-Education.
• For other OECD countries, industry level wages were provided by OECD, using the industrial ISCED-2011 category 1-Education.
• For all other countries, the industry level wages were provided by ILO, using the industrial ISIC-Rev.4 category P.-Education

City Selection

The cities in the study were chosen because they are home to prominent universities, based on university rankings. Each city has a minimum population of 250,000 people.

Scoring Procedure

Multiple indicators were used as contributing components when factors are presented as a “Score”. The underlying indicators were first standardized using a Z-Score [z = (x-μ)/σ; μ=indicator mean; σ=indicator standard deviation] normalization procedure. The final score was computed as a weighted average of the component Z-Scores, and the resulting score normalized to a scale of 50 to 100 using min-max normalization [(value - min)/(max-min)*50+50]. The floor of 50 for the scale was chosen to emphasize that the locations presented in the final dataset represent the highest ranking locations chosen from a shortlist of high-ranking locations.

- Cost of Student Housing: A percentage that reflects the cost of student housing in each city. The cost is displayed as a deviation from the dataset median, the midpoint of the dataset. A higher percentage indicates more expensive student housing. A negative percentage indicates the cost is cheaper than the median price.

Source: Magmatic Research.

- Cost of a Student Food Basket: A percentage that reflects the cost of a student food basket in each city. The cost is composed of the typical prices of groceries and restaurants. It is displayed as a deviation from the dataset median, the midpoint of the dataset. A higher percentage indicates a more expensive food basket. A negative percentage indicates the cost is cheaper than the median price.

Source: Magmatic Research.

- Cost of Other Student Expenses: A percentage that reflects the cost of other student living expenses in each city. The cost is composed of living expenses such as utilities, hygiene products, public transport, and personal care. It is displayed as a deviation from the dataset median, the midpoint of the dataset. A higher percentage indicates more expensive student expenses. A negative percentage indicates that the cost is cheaper than the median price.

Source: Magmatic Research.

- Student Safety: A score that reflects the level of safety and security that students have in each city. The score is composed of data on crime, climate risks, infrastructure risks, perceptions of security, domestic stability, transport risks, and natural disaster risks. A higher score indicates a safer environment.

Sources: Germanwatch; Hudson's Investment Migration Consultancy; Igarape Institute; The Economist; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; World Health Organization.

- Nightlife: A score that reflects the nighttime entertainment available to students in each city. The score is composed of data on the number of bars, pubs and nightclubs in absolute terms and per 100k inhabitants. A higher score indicates more nighttime entertainment.

Sources: Google local listings, TripAdvisor

- Culture: A score that reflects the cultural infrastructure available to students in each city. The score is composed of data on the number of museums and theaters in absolute terms and per 100k inhabitants. A higher score indicates more cultural offerings for students.

Sources: UNESCO; UNWTO; Google local listings; OpenStreetMap

- Smart Mobility: A score that reflects the quality of the mobility infrastructure available to students in each city. The score is composed of data related to congestion levels, commute times, government technology adoption, electrical mobility and public transport infrastructure. A higher score reflects a greater degree of mobility for students in the city, characterized by greater density, efficiency and digitalisation of public transport services, and greater adoption of e-government practices.

Sources: International Energy Agency; Institute for Management Development; OpenStreetMap; TomTom; United Nations.