After graduation, most of the students from Romania and Moldova are eager to apply to a college outside of their own country. The Western universities interest them the most. Some students choose to complete their undergraduate studies in their home countries, and after that to apply for a Master’s Degree abroad. But most of those who want to study in another country will try to get accepted for their undergraduate degree.
You won’t find too many students from Romania or Moldova who are willing to pay the tuition fees. This is primarily because many families lack sufficient financial resources.
They will usually start by looking for scholarships that will at least cover the tuition fee, which is much more expensive than it is in their home country. Some students might only be able to pay a portion of the expenses, of the room and board, but the tuition fee remains eludes them remaining far above and beyond their financial horizons. Low wages that their parents receive as remuneration for their work influences the student’s decision to continue their studies. This presents a real hardship for some families, preventing some students from attending college at all, and forcing others to leave their studies prematurely, before they have been completed.
Going to college in Romania or Moldova is not all that expensive from a Western perspective. Attending the oldest university of Romania, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, won’t be considered that expensive for a student from France, Germany or United Kingdom, because the tuition fee for a year (Undergraduate Degree) is about $610 (470 Euro). Attending The West University of Timisoara would cost you this year $760 (590 Euro).
Attending a university in Moldova will be cheaper. If you choose to study at The State University of Moldova you would have to pay between $400 (310 Euro) to $560 (435 Euro) a year.
The university degrees you can get in Romania are recognized by any European country. The diplomas that are issued in a Moldovan university are generally recognized in Russia, Ukraine, Israel, and by the former Soviet countries.
Going to college in the Unites States of America is a very big achievement for someone from Romania or Moldova, since the education acquired there receives worldwide recognition.
The top 5 best colleges in the United States are: Harvard University, Princeton University, Yale University, California Institute of Technology, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The tuition fee per year for one of these universities varies between $34,500 (26,600 Euro) and $38,000 (29,300 Euro). This is a significantly big difference when you compare it to the universities from Romania and Moldova.
The universities from Europe are still cheaper than they are in the United States. If you were to attend the courses from Konstanz University of Germany, you would have to pay $1300 (1000 Euro) per year. The tuition fee for the University of Manchester in Great Britain is $5100 (3,920 Euro) if you are a home student or a student from any other European Union country. If you're an international student, it would cost three times more.
The only way for the Moldovan and Romanian students to attend an European or American university is by receiving a scholarship, financial aid or receiving some other external financial support. If this is not possible, a student might not be able to afford it.
The quality of education varies from one university to another, and mostly depends on the system the college uses, issues the country has (for example, corruption, unemployment), the preparation level of the teachers, and many others. Nowadays, it is difficult for a student to decide what their major would be, because they don’t know if they would get employed after they graduate. This will mostly depend on the student’s background (skills, experience, studies, volunteering).
Doesn’t matter where you study, it matters that you have an education!
