An Unconventional Choice For College Education Could Save You Big Bucks
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Save thousands of dollars while seeing the world and getting a college degree. That's the choice that thousands of students are making.
Many European colleges are free or cost a fraction of schools in the United States, and many bachelor's degree programs only take three years to complete.
"There are an abundance of programs under $5,000 a year that we have listed," says Jennifer Viemont, an international education consultant and owner of Beyond the States. "What we want to do is let people know they have an option. I didn't know I had an option until just over a year ago for my kids."
Viemont says students who study abroad have qualities that are appealing to employers.
"It shows their independence," she says. "Often they'll have a foreign language skill, often these school have internships, so they might have that experience and also our world is more globalized and the students have an experience that relates to that."
But Viemont points out that families still have to pay for housing, travel costs and other living expenses. She says European universities also lack some other things that often attract American students to different colleges.
"This isn't for everybody. There aren't the sororities. There aren't the big football games," Viemont says. "If you want that sort of standard American experience, you're not going to have it there."
There are approximately 40,000 American students currently enrolled in European colleges.
