American Study Abroad Program

Same names, different advantages

The basic higher education unit of reference for the European as well as the US education systems is the Bachelor. Most countries in Europe, in addition to the UK, follow the Bologna process, which means a generally standardized 3 year Bachelor cycle.

The difference is not related purely to the duration of undergraduate studies, but also the focus. To put it in perspective, each Bachelor program in Europe represents the equivalent of a Major in the US undergraduate system. Thus, there are generally no mixtures of liberal arts in European degrees as the focus is on specialization. As such, even with 3 years of study, the typical European graduate has more in depth knowledge in his degree's specialization than a US Bachelor graduate would with the same Major.

What does this mean for you?
If you are someone who already has a fairly clear idea of what type of career they want to pursue (whether business, programming, science, languages and so on) studying in Europe enables you to get a very high degree of specialization in your field of choice, while lowering the amount of time you have to spend before getting your degree.

Aspects to keep in mind

In 2017, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers released a presentation outlining some of the key differences between the US and the European approach, which you can find here. From this, and other sources in the American Study Abroad Program network, we've built the following key takeaways:

• It generally takes 1 year of study less than in the US to complete a higher education cycle in Europe.
• Costs in Europe are significantly lower, even at the top ranked global universities such as Oxford, yearly tuition is around $38 000, with another estimated $24 000 at the top end in terms of complete living expenses (updated 2022). Other top ranked universities in Europe are at a fraction of the cost of even the above Oxford example
• European Universities are qualitatively oriented, which means that some universities require a number of higher level High School courses (such as those from Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate programs) to be completed in order to gain admission.
• Some specific graduate programs require a similar level of quality for the completed undegraduate coursework in order to permit admission, which can restrict the Majors you have studied in the US that would give you access to particular European graduate programs (an MSc in Advanced Economics and Finance for example can require a significant amount of higher level statistical and mathematical coursework to have been completed at the undegraduate level).
• Similar to above, certain European Master programs require specific specialties in the candidate's obtained Bachelor in order to qualify.
• US colleges are used to more and more used to students coming in with European degrees for their graduate or doctoral studies and there are generally no issues with continuing study.
• You can easily transfer study credits in Europe from one university to another and continue your degree. However, there is no such transference of credits between the EU and US

We're here to help you get the best education you can

The American Study Abroad Program is meant to help you navigate the intricacies of the European education system in the quickest and simplest mode possible, in order to get the most out of your educational endeavor.

We do not represent any individual European institution in marketing towards you, but rather represent you in your search for quality education, offering you the best options available according to your needs and wants.