It’s no secret that going to Europe seems drastically cheaper than living in the U.S., so what’s the budget like going abroad for a student? Depending on who you are, the budget might steer you away from studying abroad, but let’s look deeper at that. At San Francisco State a student can receive the same amount of money from financial aid for their school abroad as they would back home. Tuition for undergraduates hits around $3,000 while it may be higher for graduate students. Financial aid automatically takes that out as they would at your home university and will give you the rest of the disbursement to your bank account.
If you don’t have a passport that is the first thing, after applying, that should be on your mind. Those little things are tricky when going abroad especially for someone who has never done it. Passports take at least a month to be delivered to you and will cost around $200 give or take. It doesn’t end there; you’re going to have to run to fill out a student visa application. First, students must use Campus France, which is a separate application to initiate the visa, and will have to pay a fee of $250 for regular 3-week processing review or $390 for expedited review. After that application to even receive an appointment for the visa office. Should I mention that these websites are never easy, sadly. At the visa office, VFS, paperwork is crucial. Think of it as a DMV because that’s how long you will be there for, so I suggest taking a book. After the appointment students will pay around another $200 for the visa and now, they wait for three weeks. Personally, I received mine the day before my flight to Paris, so you can imagine the stress I had the whole month. I will say I didn’t receive as much help as I liked through my home school and wished there was more assistance on this process.
Almost forgot, do you need your picture taken? Passport and visa photos are around $12 at the closest Walgreens. Be sure to get multiple because passports and visas need their own photo. The VFS center can take photos if needed.
Students will spend money before they even get to another country. Booking airline tickets, and not the school doesn’t reimburse students for the flights there. For San Francisco State they do allow students to receive up to $1-2,000 of their financial aid early. For France, the spring semesters began in early January, so living status had to be situated by then, so students could use their money early. Financial aid is disbursed the same time as it would be back at your home university.
Grocery shopping budgets will be different than back home because in Europe food is fresh, so it’s likely to go bad within the week. There’s no bulk buying here! Costco is dearly missed. You’ll find that French locals don’t buy in bulk only go in for what they need for a couple days then will go back. Portion sizes are smaller here, so a box of 10 frozen nuggets for 6 euros won’t get you far. Monoprix, Carrefour and Casino are familiar grocery shops. Monoprix is a similar target priced high when it comes to groceries. Carrefour and Casino are a bit budget safe depending on brands people buy of course. Carrefour has two slices of salmon for 14 euro and four thick chicken thighs for 12 euros. Maybe pick one protein for the week unless you’re able to get both. There are a few American brands you can find, but they are priced a bit higher than the rest.
Don’t fret about all this money talk, it’s just to give you a perspective of the money you will put in prior to moving to a different country and on top of the spending you’ll do there. Fundraisers are a good way to raise money as friends and family can chip in what they can for a good travel cause.