How Much I Spent

Okay, I’m going to get real. Studying abroad for one semester did cost me about $15,000… BUT! I had my own apartment, traveled to 8 countries, and budgeted accordingly to my needs. If you plan properly and save in advance, it can be achievable! Plus, there are many study-abroad specific scholarships offered through most programs, especially with CSUIP. Let’s break it down:

• Rent: 900 euro a month (Roughly $6000 total)

  • This is actually on the pricier side, compared to other students. I chose to live alone and kind of booked my apartment in a rush. So, it’s not that I regret my decision, but I definitely could have planned better and found something cheaper. I’d say it’s completely possible to only pay 500 or 600 euro per month with 2 or 3 roommates. The cheapest rent I heard someone paying was 400 euro. 

    
    

• Airfare: About $1000 roundtrip to Italy from Los Angeles

  
  

• Travelling: 100 euro per day on average, (Roughly $3000 total)

  • Obviously this will depend on the person, and because it was my first time in Europe, spending money traveling every other weekend and for the last three weeks of my time there was totally worth it to me.

    
    

• Program Costs (Not Including Regular Tuition price): $3,014

  • Study Abroad fee: $375

  • International Program Mandatory Health Insurance: $300

  • Italian SIM Card (they provided upon arrival): $40

  • Mandatory Orientation (Arrival, Housing, and Meals): $470

  • Mandatory Field Trips (Housing, bookings, some meals included): $1,700

  • Technology Fee: $45

  • Print Materials: $84

  • Note: For CSUIP, students pay their regular home tuition price. For CSUN, my tuition is about $3500 a semester, but I have a full ride scholarship that covers the cost. 

    
    

• Living Expenses: About $2000

  • This includes food, shopping, etc. 

  • Groceries only costed about 60 euro a week, and I cooked often at home.

  • Average cost of eating out at a restaurant was about 15-20 euro.

    
    

• Total~ $15,000 USD

I worked multiple jobs for 1 ½ years prior to this trip and saved up around $12,500, my mom paid for $1000 to help cover my airfare costs, and I ended up putting $1500 on a credit card that I paid off working during the summer I returned to the United States. As of now, 6 months later, I’ve fully replenished my finances and savings, potentially thinking of blowing it all on another semester abroad… 

Of course everyone’s financial situation is different. I highly recommend college students to work in the serving industry, tip money really helps! I also recommend getting a Capital One Venture Credit Card, as it has no international fees. Only use a credit card abroad, as your debit card information can get stolen (it happened to my friend through an online booking website). When making purchases abroad, sometimes a card reader will ask if you want to pay in Euro or USD. It’s basically asking if you want your home bank to do the money conversion, or the European business. Always click to pay in Euro. Your home bank will provide a much cheaper conversion rate when transferring your USD to Euro. Most places in Florence and around Europe have chip readers, so you can use Apple Pay. I would recommend just carrying 50 euro cash for market vendors and taxis. There isn’t really a need to bring USD cash to Europe. You could convert it there, but you will mostly be using your card. You may only want to bring a couple American dollar bills to display at your favorite European bars though, as some did in Florence.