Originally Posted by kodokan

Have you looked up uni costs? They seem the same as the UK or cheaper here to me - our flagship in-state unit (Ohio State) is about $11k a year, before any scholarships are applied. It's much higher up world rankings than most of the UK ones, too. Many of the private unis will offer a tuition plan that prices them the same as a public uni, too.

Sure, they're four year degrees rather than three, but an averagely bright kid can skip the first year of gen ed classes by taking a handful of AP classes in high school, for almost free (about $90 per exam).

So for planning purposes, here or the UK for a degree is a wash. Unless you definitely want the UK, in which case you'd want to be resident 3 years before starting.

Originally Posted by carcajou

Moo52, I concur with Kokodan.

The US higher education system can be very complex but essentially think of it as private, public/in-state and public/out-of-state.

Historically, public universities in the US have been funded primarily by the states they are located in. Because of this, students who go to a university in the state they reside in pay a lower "in state" tuition rate than students who are coming from out-of-state. The "out of state" tuition rate can easily be 2x or 3x the "in state" rate.

There are ample scholarships and prizes available too. I stayed "in state" and ended up having my tuition, housing, and books 100% covered for all three years (as I had enough AP credits to knock off one year).

US Citizens are also eligible for financial aid in the form of things like Pell Grants, which provide substantial tuition aid through grants that don't need to be paid back, not loans.

The universities typically define "in state" as a student lived "in state" for a certain period of time (generally a year or two) before attending that university (not while attending that university).

Runaway costs tend to occur at private universities, or when someone goes out of state and thus pays a much higher tuition rate. If your children by then are not US citizens they may be classed as "international students" and at that point the tuition will be raised through the roof.

So costs can be extortionately high or they can be (literally) nothing, if you develop a proper strategy (years before) and kids don't get aggressively set on their out-of-state or private "dream school."

Taking AP courses (and getting a 3 or above on the tests) in high school can knock off a full year, sometimes even two years, off of university while at the same time raising the student's overall GPA (making their university applications more competitive).

One other thing - university admissions in the US usually get sorted in the summer between 11th and 12th grade, or early in 12th grade - not after graduation or at the end of 12th grade. This leads to a condition called "senioritis" in US high schools among 12th graders, who already have received their university admissions letters and scholarships yet still have 7-8 months of high school left.

As Kokodan mentioned the major public universities in the US - such as Ohio State, and including the University of Connecticut - tend to rate higher than most UK universities except for Oxford, Cambridge and LSE.

So there is time for planning but not as much as you may think - probably this needs to start being planned out when your eldest reaches 15.

Originally Posted by Moo52

Thank you so much for your reply, really good information, I know it sounds silly but uni over here was one thing that really scared me, guess it's fear of the unknown- the UK uni system I know but maybe the USA college system wouldn't be too bad if prepared for properly x

Originally Posted by kodokan

Another big difference - a positive or a negative depending on your child - is that you don't study just one subject. My son is off to college in 2018, and is a bit of an all-rounder academically and as regards his interests. He is thinking of majoring in engineering, but also really likes finance/ economics, so he may double major or do a minor in something financial. He is also pleased he will be able to take rounding-out classes for fun and personal interest, such as history, literature, or continue his foreign language. If he was in the UK, he'd have to pick, say, mechanical engineering, and then all his classes would be about things like materials and calculus.

Originally Posted by lndn2nbca

We arrived in 2010 for what we clearly said would be either 2 or 3 years.

We bought a house after 18 months and have never looked back. I cannot imagine going back. I can't really articulate why, but after just a few years here I/we felt more settled and comfortable than I did after my first 35 years in the UK.