This month thousands of high-school seniors are contemplating where they’ll spend the next four years. For 17-year-old Jared Devon, that could very well be in Europe.

Devon, who got into a handful of schools stateside, is leaning toward KU Leuven in Brussels, where he can earn his degree entirely in English. A hunger for new experiences combined with plans to study international business made the school an appealing choice, Devon said in a recent interview. And the annual price tag of less than €1,000 doesn’t hurt either.

“There was really no opportunity for me to go anywhere outside of an in-state place,” he said. “But after looking at the options abroad there were a lot of really inexpensive schools that I could apply to.”

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Devon has tapped into one way to escape America’s skyrocketing college costs: simply opting out. As Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will often remind you, European countries provide their citizens, and outsiders as well, with nearly free education. So why not take advantage?

“ ‘It takes a really special type of kid to want to spend more than the typical semester or year abroad.’ ” — Andy Lockwood, financial-aid counselor

A website called Beyond the States, is capitalizing on families’ desire to free themselves of high college costs. Starting later this month, families can use a searchable database on the site to compare costs, programs, campus life and other factors at foreign colleges offering English-language instruction. To use the database, families have to become members, which costs roughly $50 for three months, or about $100 a year.

Jennifer Viemont, a North Carolina mom who created the site, said she got the idea after thinking critically about college options for her teenage son. Though she and her husband have been saving for college since her kids were little, the idea of shelling out for an American university degree, particularly from a private institution, didn’t seem ideal. “We really value education but don’t see the return on investment for $50,000 a year,” she said.

But when she started researching alternatives abroad, Viemont found there wasn’t a good place for families to compare options. So she decided to start one. The database has information on 355 schools and more than 1,500 programs, she said. Forty of the schools feature free tuition, and 98 charge less than $4,000 a year.

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What to keep in mind when considering studying overseas

Of course, going to college overseas may not be right for every 17-year-old.

Andy Lockwood, a Long Island–based financial-aid counselor, said he’s had families ask about getting a degree at such prestigious universities as Oxford in England or McGill in Montreal, but typically his clients are pretty set on attending college in the U.S., despite the costs. “It takes a really special type of kid to want to spend more than the typical semester or year abroad,” Lockwood said.

It’s also important to understand how attending a non-U.S. college could affect a student’s future plans, he said. Students who want to work in an international field, for example, could greatly benefit from an education in another country. But for high schoolers set on a more traditional, U.S.-based job, it may be harder to score an interview if your résumé features a university that an employer has never heard of.

There are ways around this. For one, students can attend a school (such as an Oxford or a McGill) whose reputation extends widely. But if there’s a concern that an employer won’t be familiar with a new graduate’s alma mater, they should provide a short description of the school on their résumé, Viemont suggests.

Students may also be limiting their access to grants by leaving the U.S. You can’t use a Pell Grant, the need-based federal funding program for undergraduates, to pursue a degree abroad. And because most international schools don’t participate in the same rankings arms race as colleges in the U.S., they’re less likely to offer merit-based aid to lure top students, Lockwood said.

But many international schools, including colleges in Ireland, Israel, Australia and elsewhere, do allow you to use U.S. government loans to pay for school. Students can check Beyond the States to find out if a school they’re interested in accepts U.S. federal loans.

Though a European university may be cheaper than most U.S. schools, limiting the need for loans, it’s important to remember you’ll face other expenses during your undergraduate years, such as flights and basic living costs, Viemont said.

David Devon, Jared’s father, said the family did some calculations and determined that, even though tuition will be cheaper abroad, after factoring in flights back home and other expenses “it’s going to be a wash” as compared with the cost of an in-state school in the U.S. if Jared spends four years there. But since many students can get their degrees abroad in three years, it’s possible Jared will wind up with a less expensive degree if he does choose to study in Brussels.

Finally, students should consider whether they’re truly willing to give up the quintessential American college experience — the quad, the dorms and the rah-rah spirit that surrounds the big-time college athletics program.

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As Lockwood noted, part of the reason these overseas universities are so relatively inexpensive is that they don’t cater to their students the way American schools do, with academic hand holding, high-end cafeterias and gyms, and ample university-sponsored recreational activities. Students in the U.S. have come to associate these amenities so closely with university life that it’ll be hard for them to adjust, he said.

“That’s a bit of a cultural shock for people when they take a semester abroad,” Lockwood said. Some conclude, “This sucks compared to what I’m used to.”