{"id":5328,"date":"2020-03-03T11:17:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T11:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/?p=5328"},"modified":"2020-04-06T15:42:51","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T15:42:51","slug":"tuition-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuition Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"

After paying the second half of my tuition fees,\u00a0<\/span>it\u2019s fair to say that\u00a0<\/span>money has been on my mind a lot this week. One of the reasons that I chose to come to the UK for grad school was the cost. Higher education in the US is infamously\u00a0<\/span>expensive and<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>unlike my <\/span>undergrad\u00a0<\/span>degree<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0I\u00a0<\/span>would be taking on the price<\/span>\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>grad school<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>entirely myself.\u00a0<\/span>Even factoring in the exchange rates, the cost of a\u00a0<\/span>UK MSc was still far less than one from back home.\u00a0<\/span>Pretty much a no-brainer<\/span>\u00a0to study here, right?<\/span>\u00a0However, as an international student,\u00a0<\/span>choosing to pursue\u00a0<\/span>a master\u2019s degree\u00a0<\/span>at<\/span>\u00a0Imperial\u00a0<\/span>rather than another UK university\u00a0<\/span>has\u00a0<\/span>been its own\u00a0<\/span>financial challenge. Warning: strong financial feelings ahead. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How does Imperial stack up?<\/h4>\n

There\u2019s no way to<\/span>\u00a0get around<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>it: Imperial is expensive.\u00a0<\/span>My roommate, an\u00a0<\/span>international\u00a0<\/span>MSc student\u00a0<\/span>studying\u00a0<\/span>at another London university, paid around \u00a316,0<\/span>00<\/span>\u00a0in tuition<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Admittedly, her subject area is different than mine. On the other hand, p<\/span>rograms\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>my<\/span>\u00a0desired<\/span>\u00a0field<\/span>\u00a0of climate change policy at\u00a0<\/span>UCL and King\u2019s, <\/span>cost\u00a0<\/span>around the same: \u00a316,000.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>At Imperial however,<\/span>\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0i<\/span>nternational tuition<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for my\u00a0<\/span>chosen\u00a0<\/span>program w<\/span>as<\/span> \u00a326,500. O<\/span>bviously the fact that I am writing this blog is proof <\/span>enough\u00a0<\/span>of my deci<\/span>sion, but I had to do some serious cost-benefit analysis to determine if attending Imperial would be worth it<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If only not eating avocados could solve this<\/h4>\n

While I was able to afford the cost of attending Imperial, my\u00a0<\/span>financial frustrations\u00a0<\/span>have been<\/span>\u00a0compounded by the<\/span>\u00a0dubiously helpful advice<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>on displa<\/span>y.\u00a0<\/span>If you visit any\u00a0<\/span>university website you will be faced with<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>pages with\u00a0<\/span>cheery<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>titles such as \u201cHow to Manage Your Money\u201d or \u201cTips for Saving as a Student!!\u201d and Imperial is no different.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Don\u2019t get me wrong, managing money is an invaluable life skill\u00a0<\/span>and I am always keen to see tips from other students about things such as\u00a0<\/span>where to see cheap performances or\u00a0<\/span>get discounted travel<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However,<\/span>\u00a0this type of\u00a0<\/span>peppy<\/span>\u00a0bu<\/span>dgeting<\/span>\u00a0advice\u00a0<\/span>rings utterly false<\/span>\u00a0in the face of\u00a0<\/span>such a large<\/span>\u00a0tuition<\/span>\u00a0difference<\/span>\u00a0as the one between Imperial and its peer institutions<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>No matter how well you budget,<\/span>\u00a0preparing meals at home<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0shopping at discount stores<\/span>, or even passing on nights out with friends<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>can<\/span>\u00a0simply not<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>make up\u00a0<\/span>\u00a3<\/span>10<\/span>,<\/span>000.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Adding insult to injury, even paying tuition in instalments cost money, since Imperial adds a charge<\/span>\u00a0for the\u00a0<\/span>\u2018<\/span>privilege<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>(m<\/span>any o<\/span>ther schools, for the record, do not do this<\/span>).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What’s another 10k?<\/h4>\n

For the record, I have greatly enjoyed my time at Imperial so far. My classes have been<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>truly broadened my perspective on environmental problem-solving\u00a0<\/span>and I deeply value the relationships I\u2019ve built with my fellow students (<\/span>shoutouts<\/span>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span>Aaliya<\/span>\u00a0and Payal if for some reason you\u2019r<\/span>e reading this). But I am concerned\u00a0<\/span>to hear<\/span> that Imperial is considering raising tuition for international students to \u00a335,000. This amounts to<\/span>\u00a0a staggering increase from an already-high sum. <\/span>If this ends up being the case, I<\/span> would be hesitant to<\/span>\u00a0recommend Imperial as a<\/span>\u00a0reasonable\u00a0<\/span>option for<\/span>\u00a0international\u00a0<\/span>postgraduate\u00a0<\/span>students<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Of course, every perspective student must consider their individual\u00a0<\/span>situation; however,<\/span>\u00a0in my <\/span>view,<\/span>\u00a0while p<\/span>restige is all well and good<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>tuition talks\u00a0<\/span>quite loudly indeed.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After paying the second half of my tuition fees,\u00a0it\u2019s fair to say that\u00a0money has been on my mind a lot this week. One of the reasons that I chose to come to the UK for grad school was the cost. Higher education in the US is infamously\u00a0expensive and,\u00a0unlike my undergrad\u00a0degree,\u00a0I\u00a0would be taking on the price\u00a0of\u00a0grad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1414,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[300890,551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-student","category-money"],"yoast_head":"\nTuition Talk - Student blogs - Imperial College London<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tuition Talk - Student blogs - Imperial College London\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After paying the second half of my tuition fees,\u00a0it\u2019s fair to say that\u00a0money has been on my mind a lot this week. One of the reasons that I chose to come to the UK for grad school was the cost. Higher education in the US is infamously\u00a0expensive and,\u00a0unlike my undergrad\u00a0degree,\u00a0I\u00a0would be taking on the price\u00a0of\u00a0grad […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Student blogs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-03T11:17:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-06T15:42:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emma Tipton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emma Tipton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/03\\\/tuition-talk\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/03\\\/tuition-talk\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Emma Tipton\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5f55b0d68f5fe4244a2cacc5da433d09\"},\"headline\":\"Tuition Talk\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-03T11:17:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-06T15:42:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/03\\\/tuition-talk\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":559,\"commentCount\":1,\"articleSection\":[\"International Student\",\"money\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/03\\\/tuition-talk\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/03\\\/tuition-talk\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/03\\\/tuition-talk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tuition Talk - Student blogs - Imperial College London\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-03T11:17:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-06T15:42:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5f55b0d68f5fe4244a2cacc5da433d09\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/03\\\/tuition-talk\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/03\\\/tuition-talk\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/03\\\/tuition-talk\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tuition Talk\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Student blogs\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5f55b0d68f5fe4244a2cacc5da433d09\",\"name\":\"Emma Tipton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d0cf1e331155b2be390eb867e26e0dcc91fca40c89c61e21724112be9550163?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d0cf1e331155b2be390eb867e26e0dcc91fca40c89c61e21724112be9550163?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d0cf1e331155b2be390eb867e26e0dcc91fca40c89c61e21724112be9550163?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emma Tipton\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\\\/student-blogs\\\/author\\\/emma\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tuition Talk - Student blogs - Imperial College London","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tuition Talk - Student blogs - Imperial College London","og_description":"After paying the second half of my tuition fees,\u00a0it\u2019s fair to say that\u00a0money has been on my mind a lot this week. One of the reasons that I chose to come to the UK for grad school was the cost. Higher education in the US is infamously\u00a0expensive and,\u00a0unlike my undergrad\u00a0degree,\u00a0I\u00a0would be taking on the price\u00a0of\u00a0grad […]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/","og_site_name":"Student blogs","article_published_time":"2020-03-03T11:17:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-06T15:42:51+00:00","author":"Emma Tipton","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Emma Tipton","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/"},"author":{"name":"Emma Tipton","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/5f55b0d68f5fe4244a2cacc5da433d09"},"headline":"Tuition Talk","datePublished":"2020-03-03T11:17:14+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-06T15:42:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/"},"wordCount":559,"commentCount":1,"articleSection":["International Student","money"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/","name":"Tuition Talk - Student blogs - Imperial College London","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-03-03T11:17:14+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-06T15:42:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/5f55b0d68f5fe4244a2cacc5da433d09"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/03\/03\/tuition-talk\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tuition Talk"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/","name":"Student blogs","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/5f55b0d68f5fe4244a2cacc5da433d09","name":"Emma Tipton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d0cf1e331155b2be390eb867e26e0dcc91fca40c89c61e21724112be9550163?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d0cf1e331155b2be390eb867e26e0dcc91fca40c89c61e21724112be9550163?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d0cf1e331155b2be390eb867e26e0dcc91fca40c89c61e21724112be9550163?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Emma Tipton"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/author\/emma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1414"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5328"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5476,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5328\/revisions\/5476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}