Political Science at UWindsor

Estimated Costs For The European Union Study Abroad Program

May 5-18, 2019

Program Fees

  • Tuition. $680 (approximately: based on fees for 2019)
  • Shared accommodation. $900 at the Irish College* (@42 euros per day, which includes breakfast: this is an approximate figure that depends on the exchange rate)
  • Program fees. $70 (this pays for various administrative costs associated with the program)

TOTAL $1,650 (approximate)

*This is based on the exchange rate as of late June, 2019. Over the past year, the value of the Canadian dollar against the Euro has been fairly stable. Let's hope that the exchange rate changes in our favor before we have to pay the accommodation bill in 2020!

The Irish College (www.leuveninstitute.eu) has spacious accommodation including a desk for each student in the shared rooms. Students in the program stay there every year and love it.

Other Costs

  • Airfare. ($1,100) This is difficult to anticipate. Students paid an average of roughly $1,100 in 2019. We will share information on airfares in the winter of 2020.
  • Meals and personal spending. ($300-400) This depends on each student's needs and preferences. A figure of about $20-25 per day is entirely realistic if one wants to be frugal. There are many inexpensive student cafes in Leuven as well as abundant “street food” opportunities in both Leuven and in Brussels, where students have lunch most days. So I would place this cost at roughly $300-$400 for the 15 day period of the program. Students can, of course, spend much more depending on their taste in libations and such. Remember, breakfast is covered in the cost of accommodation.
  • Travel within Belgium and to Paris. ($370) The cost of a round trip on the train between Leuven and Brussels is about $14. We go into Brussels most days, one day is spent in Bruges and another in Antwerp. Students will purchase multi-trip cards which reduces the cost of train fares. There is one roundtrip between Leuven and Paris which is a bit more expensive because it is international. We take the fast train (the TGV) and the cost will be roughly 70 euros or $105 at the current exchange rate. There will also be eight days when we take the metro in Brussels to get to some of our meetings. Again, we can buy cards for this which reduces the per voyage cost. Altogether, the cost of all this ground travel comes to roughly $370. Because it is very difficult to predict in advance exactly how much in-country travel will cost and virtually impossible to book the metro and in-Belgium train tickets in advance, these are costs that students pay once in Belgium as they are incurred. In order to receive the best rate on the fast train (the TGV) from Brussels to Paris, everyone will be asked to book their ticket 8-10 weeks before our arrival in Brussels. This will be explained at one of our winter information sessions.
  • Two entrance fees. ($20-25) There are entrance fees at Fort Breendonk, a Nazi transit camp north of Brussels, and usually for one or two other activities.

TOTAL $1,900 (approximate)

Of course, students may spend much more if they have expensive tastes in food and drink, or want to do some shopping for gifts and souvenirs.

GRAND TOTAL $3,550 (approximate)

This is the amount that some of the students from the 2019 program said they spent in total on all expenses related to the program. For purposes of comparison to other study abroad programs, it is important to keep in mind that this represents the total cost of the experience (tuition, accommodation, food, transportation), not simply the program fees, which is the amount usually mentioned by other study abroad programs. I can assure you that unless you find a program that is heavily subsidized by the EU, your university, or by some other sponsor, you will not find a more competitive price for a program that delivers the experience that ours does and that earns credit for an upper-level one-semester course. We are able to do this by compressing the program into 15 days (14 nights), thus reducing the cost of accommodation which is, of course, one of the major components of the overall costs for a study abroad program.