International Colleges are an Affordable Option for Some

LETTER RE: 'College Rules! But Student Loans are a Hot Mess!'

I loved the recent conversations about student loans and the discussions about international colleges versus domestic.

Since I have two teenagers, college expenses are of interest to me. I’ve also always dreamed of moving to Italy after my kids leave the nest so I started to do a little research about colleges in Italy.

I was actually shocked to find out that colleges in Italy were an order of magnitude less expensive than even state schools in the United States, even for international students.

For example, at the University of Oregon, the local college in my town of Eugene, in-state tuition and mandatory fees are just under $20,000 a year. Out of state or international students pay $46,000 for tuition.

At the university of Padua, just outside of Venice, Italy, the annual tuition and fees for a non-EU citizen residing abroad is between €2750 and €2950. It’s worth noting that many of the programs are taught fully in English. And unless I’m missing something it looks like even non-EU citizens can qualify for income-based fee waivers which can drop the price tag to below €1000!

Even including living expenses, it looks like it would be cheaper for my child to live and go to school in Italy, than to live at home for free and pay full tuition at the University of Oregon.

I knew college in the US had gotten expensive, but I didn’t know it was that much higher than schools in other countries. I did a little cursory research and these low tuition prices (even for international students) seemed similar in several other European countries as well as Australia and New Zealand.

I’d love for you to explore the economic factors that have led to those low prices in other countries and also to explore why, even with the exorbitantly high tuition prices, American schools are still (or at least used to be) highly desirable for international students.

Rachel Hill
Eugene, Oregon
Aug. 1, 2025