For many students, the ideal college is close to home. Others dream of moving out of state or across the country to start their higher education. For some, the perfect school is a little farther away.

If you’re in love with the language, culture or customs of a European country, you may be considering heading across the Atlantic to pursue a college education. This journey may make your financial aid situation more complicated than it would be in the U.S. Fortunately, there are scholarships to help you save on education costs, whether your dream school is in Edinburgh or Istanbul.



With prestigious schools, cosmopolitan cities and no language barrier for English speakers, the U.K. is the most common destination for American students pursuing a degree in Europe. It’s also the host nation for some of the biggest-name scholarships available to Americans.

Unfortunately, scholarships like the Marshall, Rhodes, Fulbright and Chevening awards are only available at the graduate or postgraduate levels. For undergraduate funding, you’ll need to turn to your chosen university.

On the plus side, many if not all universities offer a detailed scholarship guide for Americans and others coming from abroad. For a good overview, start by checking the British Council’s EducationUK website, which lets you enter a major and find university-level awards.

Check out which universities are the best in the U.K. ]

If you know which school you’d like to attend, that specific college's website should be your next stop. Universities like the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the University of Huddersfield in England provide comprehensive lists, and the scholarships can be sizable.

If you’re interested in international business or politics, the Netherlands may be the place for you. The Study in Holland website provides an overview of available grants at all levels throughout the country.

At Maastricht University, undergrads from the U.S. are eligible for the prestigious UCM Scholarship, and one business or economics undergraduate will earn the full-tuition SBE International School award.

Find out if attending an international university makes sense for you. ]

For American students looking to travel as far east as possible in Europe, an undergraduate education in Turkey, where Europe meets Asia, may be the right fit. Istanbul’s Sehir University is focused on creating a diverse international campus. Enrolling its first students in 2010, the school counts 400 international students among its 2,000 undergrads and offers significant scholarship assistance to students from the U.S. and elsewhere. Awards range from a 25 percent tuition waiver to the full-cost Super Scholarship.

Full-tuition scholarships are available for undergraduate studies throughout Europe, as well. In Italy, Milan’s Bocconi University provides an international student scholarship covering tuition up to 11,500 euros, or about $14,500. In Denmark, "highly qualified full-degree students from non-EU/EEA countries and Switzerland" may qualify for full-tuition Danish government scholarships, administered by individual universities.

Finally, you’ll notice that there are a few large countries that haven't been covered, and that’s because scholarships aren’t necessary there, at least for public schools. Private institutions are a separate case.

If you attend a public university in France, for example, your undergraduate tuition will be 388 euros, about $490. And if you meet the high admissions standards for public higher education in Finland, Norway or Germany, your only costs will be administrative fees and living expenses, as none of these countries charge undergraduate tuition, even for American students.