What Does Study Abroad Cost?

Often students assume that studying abroad is cost-prohibitive or is more expensive than studying at RIT. However, study abroad program costs vary dramatically by the program due to length, number of courses, location, etc. As a part of your application process, the Education Abroad office will provide you with a detailed budget worksheet outlining the actual and estimated out-of-pocket costs of studying abroad for your chosen program.

Program Costs

Costs vary by program and location and typically include:

Tuition: The educational cost per credit. The RIT tuition rate is charged for RIT global campuses, exchanges, and faculty-led programs, but affiliate programs set their own tuition rate (usually comparable, but sometimes less than RIT tuition).

Program fee: An additional fee charged to cover living expenses. Often includes housing, in-country orientation, airport transportation, and excursions built into the program. May sometimes include insurance, visa, flights, etc.

Out-of-pocket expenses: Real costs of participating, but not billed to the student account. Often includes airfare, personal spending money, meals, in-country transportation, books, etc.

RIT External Program fee (for students going on affiliate programs): for the administrative costs associated with affiliated programs.

Financial Aid

Federal aid, such as Pell grants, subsidized and unsubsidized loans, etc., and RIT aid, such as merit scholarships, may often be used to help fund your study abroad experience.

To be eligible for federal aid, you must maintain half-time student status, which is six- semester credits. Keep this in mind, especially when exploring short-term programs, which are often less than a month abroad and often only offer 3-6 credits.

To be eligible for RIT aid as well as federal aid, you must maintain full-time student status, which is a minimum of 12-semester credits.

The Education Abroad office will provide a budget worksheet outlining your expected costs for the program you’re interested in. You must make an appointment with your RIT Financial Aid Assistant Director and provide them with your program budget worksheet to understand how much aid you may be eligible for. It is important to do this early in the application process, prior to the application deadline.

Scholarships and Fellowships

Another way to finance a study abroad experience is through scholarships. RIT, affiliate study abroad programs, and several national organizations offer scholarships to study abroad. Students should seek out scholarship opportunities early in their study abroad planning as scholarship applications are often due earlier than RIT study abroad application deadlines. 

RIT Study Abroad Scholarships: RIT college and department scholarships that can support a study abroad program of your choice

National Study Abroad Scholarships: Nationally competitive scholarships that fund a study abroad program of your choice. 

Affiliate Scholarships: RIT affiliate partners offer scholarship funding when applying to their programs

Funded Programs: Competitive international programs to study, research, learn a language, or intern abroad that are mostly or fully funded. 

More about undergraduate scholarships

Search all scholarships/fellowships

Billing and Deposits

Affiliate Programs

  • You are not billed regular RIT tuition on top of your study abroad expenses. 
  • You’ll pay a deposit to confirm participation directly to the affiliate study abroad provider. Deposits are typically non-refundable - consult with your affiliate provider for their cancellation/refund policies.
  • The remainder is billed to your RIT eServices account.
  • Payment plans can be arranged with Student Financial Services. Contact Student Financial Services for details.
  • If something changes in your class schedule while you are abroad, e.g., you drop a course, withdraw, or a pre-approved course is full, you must contact your study abroad and financial aid advisors as it may impact your financial aid.
     

RIT Programs (Global Campus, Faculty-Led, Exchange)

Once you’ve been accepted to an RIT program (Global Campus, Faculty-Led or Exchange), you will be asked to confirm your participation by logging into your Compass application and completing Step 3: Participation Confirmation. By electronically signing, you will have committed to paying the deposit and program fees. The deposit amount is listed on the student budget worksheet and is non-refundable once you have completed Step 3. You will typically have one week from acceptance to make your confirmation decision. The deadline for confirmation will be clearly communicated in your acceptance email. It is the student’s responsibility to consider all factors (such as financial aid, interpreting services, academics, logistics, etc.) that may affect your participation before signing your confirmation agreement.

Tips for Cutting Costs

  • Short-term RIT programs (faculty-led or global campus summer programs) may be offered at a discounted RIT tuition rate.
  • While longer programs will have increased costs for housing, etc. you typically have more access to RIT financial aid and other scholarships than on short programs.
  • Cost of living varies dramatically by location, so consider a more affordable destination (ex. Eastern Europe vs. Western Europe, Latin America vs. Europe).
  • Many RIT providers may offer programs to the same location or international university. Be sure to compare costs and access to scholarships between these providers.
  • Apply for scholarships and not just ones specifically designated for study abroad.