HOW MUCH DOES A MASTERS


DEGREE REALLY COST?


By Tim Rogers


At a time when everyone appears to be cost conscious, weighing up the investment required to gain a Masters degree against the potential benefits after graduation is perhaps more important than ever before. Talk of rising tuition fees in Australia, the UK and across Europe has made more prospective graduate students nervous about the costs associated with taking their first steps on graduate program ladder, thinking twice about applying before the complete cost of study is considered.


But a careful approach and some detailed research can make all the difference in locating a Masters program that fits your ambitions and the size of your wallet, with some new and emerging destinations offering excellent value for money for the more adventurous student. Perhaps the starting point from which to understand how much a Masters degree is going to actually cost is what exactly you will have to pay for, with tuition fees just being the start of the investment. Living costs, equipment and book costs, travel and moving costs and the loss of income, if you are giving


up employment to go and study for one, two or more years, all contribute to the amount of money you will need at your disposal before you can embark on your program of studies. Most international students will spend the majority of their time focusing on the level of tuition fees and living costs associated with their first choice program, yet the additional costs of being away from home in a different country can add a further 25% on top of the basic sum required.


The cost of higher education more generally and Masters degrees in particular vary enormously from country to country, providing opportunities for students to pursue high quality graduate programs at wildly different levels of tuition fees. The immediate trend that has emerged in recent years is the relative similarity between the majorities of tuition fees across the key destination countries, from US$24,000 in New Zealand to US$26,000 in the UK, where the significant share of the cost of education has been passed to the international student. Only France, Germany and Italy remain as relatively low cost tuition countries,


where the structure of higher education continues to mean that international students are subsidised by the national government in one form or another.


The major difference in tuition fees for international Masters programs is explained by how universities are funded in the country where they are located. Professor Celeste Schenck, President of The American University of Paris (AUP), explains some of the most important differences between tuition fees across countries and their universities. “The level of fees varies largely because of the structure and situation each university finds itself in. For many years, the Government of the country in which the institution was located would subsidize students for Masters and other degrees. As funding for higher education came under more pressure, many countries decided that because international students and their parents had not contributed to the local tax system – the usual source of funding for university students – it was necessary to pass the full cost of education over to them.”


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