MBA at US, Canada or Australia: How much does it cost to study overseas?

If you are planning to study for an MBA in an overseas university, one of the key factors to consider is the cost involved in it. There are two popular destinations for the Indian students wanting to study abroad: US and UK.

There is no denying the fact that the US is the most popular destination for Indian students who want to go for higher studies such as an MBA or an MS. Meanwhile, those who want to opt for an economical bet tend to go for other destinations such as Canada or Australia.

Here we give a lowdown on the cost that one has to incur when you study for an MBA at any of the top universities in these countries.

As per the ministry of external affairs (MEA) data of 2022, there are over 4.65 lakh Indian students studying in the US followed by 1.83 lakh in Canada. There are a little over a lakh in Australia and only over 55,000 in the United Kingdom (UK).

(Source: Ministry of External Affairs, 2022 data)

Let us take each country one by one.

I. USA

There are a number of B-school options in the land of opportunities. The top ones include Stanford, Wharton, Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Northwestern and UC Berkeley, among others.

Tuition fees: The tuition fee for one-year hovers around $82,455 for Stanford while the overall cost touches $1,30,746 which includes living expenses ($19,000), housing ($20,880), medical insurance ($7,620) and health fee ($783). The total cost for an Indian student, therefore, touches ₹1.09 crore. For a two-year MBA, this cost doubles to ₹2.18 crore.

Work rights: International students on F-1 visa are entitled to work up to 20 hours per week when classes are in session and upto 40 hours a week when the classes are not in session. After the completion of studies, students are entitled to stay back for one year under what is known as OPT i.e., optional practical training.

OPT is temporary employment and is directly related to an F-1 student’s major area of study e.g., IT or finance. The students who are eligible for OPT can apply to receive up to 12 months of OPT authorisation.

Additionally, if you have studied for a degree in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) fields, then you could apply for a 24-month extension of your post-completion OPT authorisation subject to meeting certain conditions.

II. Canada

The neighbouring country of America situated in the continent of North America has been a hotspot for Indian students and Indians in general for a long time now. Currently, there are over 1.83 Indian students studying in Canada (2022 data). The prestigious universities in Canada include Queen’s University, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, University of York, McGill University, among others.

An MBA at McGill University, for instance, costs an Indian student tuition of around $1,02,500 plus another $3,000 for an international study trip. One can add another $24,000 towards cost of living.

So, the total cost of an MBA would be 1,05,500 + 24,000 = 1,29,500. For Indian students, this amounts to around ₹80 lakh (1,29,500 X 62).

Work rights: Students are allowed to work upto 20 hours per week. International students can apply for a 3-year PGWP (post-graduation work permit), even if the length of master’s degree was less than two years. But the candidate must meet all other eligibility criteria (for instance, the program must have been a minimum of 8 months).

III. Australia

Those who cannot afford to study in the US or Canada tend to opt for economical options such as Australia where the cost of living, just as the cost of studies, is lower.

The top universities in Australia for an MBA include University of Melbourne, Queensland, Sydney, Western Australia, Canberra, Wollongong and Victoria University, among others.

The cost for an MBA at University of Sydney for one year is $55,000. The total cost for a 1.5-year MBA would be $82,500. The living cost ($2000 per month) for 1.5 years becomes $36,000. The total cost therefore is 82,500 + 36,000 = $1,18,500. When you convert this into Indian currency (at the rate of 1$ equals ₹56), the total cost becomes ₹66.36 lakh.

Work rights: International students are allowed to work for up to 48 hours every fortnight which means 24 hours every week when the university is in session.

After studies, one can apply for a post study work permit (Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485). For this visa, an applicant must have held a student visa in the past 6 months and aged 35 years or less.