Master's Degree in the UK

I’m planning to obtain my master’s degree in the UK, but I’m at loss where to get started, and I have some questions.

Where do you suggest that you start looking for a school and degree? One difficulty that I’ve encountered is that I don’t know which schools are the good ones. I’m hoping to get my master’s either in information systems, quantitative analysis, or international affairs, so if anybody have any recommendation for those degrees, that would be great!

Also, as a US and EU national, I assume that I wouldn’t need a student visa as long as I can show that I can provide for myself, is that correct? What can one expect to pay for graduate school, and how is the UK degrees different from US ones? Can I also use financial aid from the US if I would like to?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,716,00.html [nofollow]

Try the Times Good University Guide

Yes, you'll need to get a student visa - which shouldn't be a problem as long as you've been accepted at a university and have the funds to pay for tuition and living expenses. Financial aid from the US is fine, but for federal aid, you'll need to be going to an approved university - when you fill out the paperwork you'll be able to see the list of approved foreign universities....

It's very, very expensive for an international student. Including the required amount of living expense money, I ended up taking out... are you sitting down?... about $28,000 to cover my first year. So it's definitely not cheap. And federal loans for international graduate students only go up to $18,000 (I think - can't remember for sure all of a sudden) so I had to take another 10K in private loans....

As for choosing one... that's not easy. For me it was a multi step process. First I decided where I wanted to live, then I looked up uni's in that area online and wrote to them asking for a prospectus. I narrowed down which ones looked appealing, and then wrote to the course leaders to get their input on my suitability and needs vs. their course. Then I had a friend from London look at my final list and tell me what he knew about their reputation.... One thing to keep in mind - if your chosen field has a governing body (like mine is the British Psychological Society) you should get in touch with them to find out if they have a list of accredited universities and what they require for registration with them.

I didn't have much choice in schools, i went where  my bf lives nearest to - Univ of Leeds. I will be attending this year for a masters in Int'l Studies. I can say it looks like a great program, maybe not in the same league as Amer. Univ, but it's a big school and has reputable profs. I got a stafford loan from the gov't for $18,500. That covers the school costs for my 1 yr. My brit bf is paying for my living costs, plus I plan to work part time. not sure about the visa. I did extensive research to find out if a masters in the UK is just as good as one from the US (considering it takes much less time to get!) and have been reassured over and over that it is indeed the same calibur. I hope that helps! Good luck.

Thank you very much for that information Anne!

So even EU nationals need a student visa? I know you don’t need a work permit and that I can just move there, so couldn’t I just move there and then start school? I plan to work and then just study part-time. Are you not considered a resident in that situation so you can avoid being an international student, just like how it works in the US when you establish residency first.

I know that I just can start to work, and I suppose I will then apply for the residency, and start school after that. Do you know if that would work?

Thank you Pittpanther, that is also very helpful. I’m sure a lot will depend on where we’ll end up, but it’s good to at least have an idea. Would you be able to tell me some more about that program by the way? What courses and such that the curriculum includes since that’s one of the programs I’m considering.

$18,500 for one a year isn’t bad considering that you’re done after that. American degrees are often two years, but there are ones that are shorter, or that you can accelerate. I certainly miss the free college tuition though J By the way, do they have graduate assistantships or anything like that in the UK? I also found a program where the employer pays for the school, do you know if that’s common?

If you are already an EU citizen, you might be able to get non-international student tuition but you'd need to check with each Uni. This might have an impact on your student visa as I know US students need one but not sure if EU ones do.

The Times link is good for comparing Universities but you also need to do your own homework and, as pittpanther has done, consider the implications for your return to the US should that be your intention.

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Just saw your last post... I *think* that to have 'residency' here, you have to have lived here for 2 years to qualify without attending Uni. But, you'll need to check with the HO to find out if being an EU national automatically exempts you from needing a visa.

I’m sure you’re right that it varies, and I’ll be sure to look into how it works for students with visas. My understanding was that once employed, I would be able to apply for residency, but I’ll have to double-check. I know that there is no time limit on my stay, but it would be nice to have it, especially since you would need it if you want to apply for the permanent stay.

We probably wouldn’t return, but you never know, so that is something to take into consideration. I also assume that a UK degree is better than the same US degree when you live in the UK, wouldn’t that be correct? 

Nope  UK degrees are treated the same (if not better) than a US degree in the US. Although, I have not yet made the decision to return to the US to continue my career (that's up to my brit bf and me later this year). I have a job w/ the US gov't on hold if i choose to return, but I did extensive research to make sure that the degree I am getting at Leeds will be on par with those that are studying in the US. I plan on making it worthwhile as well with working my tushy off for it this year!

That is good to know in case we would come back. Well, we don’t even know if we’re going yet lol.  But US degrees can at least help you get a job I hope in the UK.
I will just have to start an extensive research project to come up with different programs, schools, and other things that may play into this. It would certainly be nice if I could get started on a UK master’s degree soon!

After some more research I did get both and good and bad news. It doesn’t seem like I would qualify for the UK/EU tuition rate even though I’m a EU due to the fact that I haven’t been a resident in the EU for the past three years. All the universities appear to follow the same policy, but I’ll have to inquiry more about it to the specific schools.
The good news is that I wouldn’t need a student visa, so that is one less thing to worry about.

By the way, does anybody know if there are degrees that offer a combination of technology and business? These are common in the US (Information Systems for example), but I’ve only found degrees that are either only business or just computer science.