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The best places to live as a Student

Anna Allgaier

20.02.23 (updated more than 1 year ago)

Read time 2 minutes

Ahhh the student days. It’s a time in life where you’re relatively responsibility free, released into the big, beautiful world and still have a high metabolism and the ability to wake up and function after a big night out.

But before you enter this phase of your life, you’ll need to work out where it is you want to go. Yes, you should probably be picking your new home based on what it is you want to study and the quality of the University you’re applying to. But that’s no fun. So I’ve put a little bit of this and a little bit of that together on the best countries to move to.

Study this 📚

The best places to study abroad

This babe of a section is going to look at prices, fun times, quality of life and safety. Because safety first kids. Obviously these lists need to be taken with a pinch of salt, but according to the internet, they are somewhat reliable.

Cheapest countries to study abroad

Norway 🇳🇴

Anywhere Scandi is known for high quality of life, affordability, fab government benefits and BEAUTIFUL people. Is that appropriate? Probably not. Please don’t fire me, Wise.
Studying in Norway is totally free, whether you’re an EU citizen or not. It also has a lot on offer if you’re looking to study in English. While the University is free, the living costs are high-ish.

Germany 🇩🇪

I studied in Berlin and it was glorious. Not just because it’s where the Döner Kebab truly shines, but because there are no tuition fees, cost of living is low and life quality is great. You also don’t have to speak the language for a lot of courses. So get digging.

Argentina 🇦🇷

If you’re looking for some South American spice then Argentina may be the destination for you. The people are wonderful, nature's also wonderful and the cost of living is, you guessed it, wonderful. If you study at a public university the tuition is free and if you go private you’ll be paying roughly 4,000 - 5,000 GBP a year.

Poland 🇵🇱

So, you CAN study for free in Poland but only if you speak Polish and do a course that is in the language. If you speak Polish, great, if you don’t, gap year and Babbel? If you don’t foresee a new language in your future, the country has a variety of courses in English that range from 1,000 - 3,000 GBP a year (still a lot cheaper than most places).

Safest place to study abroad

According to 2022’s Global Peace Index, these are the ten safest places to live as an international student.

Iceland - safe
Ireland - also safe
Denmark - this one’s safe too
Austria - yup, safe
Portugal - yes, safe
Slovenia - omg, safe
Czech Republic - yaas it’s safe
Switzerland - hello safety
Hungary - knock knock, who’s there? SAFETY
Finland - safe mate

If you’re looking to leave Europe then the world wide web suggests;

New Zealand
Canada
Japan
Singapore
Australia

The most fun countries to study abroad

I believe in honesty. So if I’m being honest, I did absolutely not study at all while living in Berlin. In fact, I hardly showed up to classes. Extra fact, I had to do an essay at the end of the year to make up for all of the credits I was missing.

Why, you ask? Well, because I’m lazy, and also because the nightlife was amazing and I have no will power.

So if you wish you follow in my footsteps, or you’re good at living a balanced life (weirdo), here are some places with a notorious - in a good way - nightlife.

Prague, Czech Republic
Berlin, Germany
Barcelona, Spain
Miami, Florida
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
New York, U S of A
Buenos Aires, Argentina
São Paulo, Brazil

Some useful linkypoo’s for you

Your go-to checklist for travelling abroad
8 things you need to know as an international student in the UK
The easiest languages to learn vs the hardest
The best apps for travel planning

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