Study Abroad Affordability Analysis
Identifying the most affordable countries and cities for international students
Problem Statement
Which countries and cities offer the most affordable overall study-abroad options when you consider both tuition and cost of living, and how do they compare?
Dataset
Source: Our World in Data - International Education Costs dataset
Records: 907 programs across 70+ countries
SQL Commands Used
SELECT, FROM
Basic data retrieval
GROUP BY
Aggregating by country, city, and degree level
AVG()
Calculating average tuition, rent per location
COUNT()
Counting programs per country/level
ORDER BY
Sorting from cheapest to most expensive
Calculated columns
Total cost formula (tuition + living + fees)
Analysis
International students can save $40,000-$80,000 over the duration of their degree by choosing European or Latin American destinations versus USA or Australia, making higher education accessible to broader demographics.
SQL Queries
Which country has the lowest tuition fee
SELECT country, AVG(tuition_USD) AS avg_tuition
FROM international_education_costs
GROUP BY country
ORDER BY avg_tuition;Which country has the most programs
SELECT country, COUNT(program) AS number_of_programs
FROM international_education_costs
GROUP BY country
ORDER BY number_of_programs DESC;Which city has the cheapest rent
SELECT country, city, AVG(rent_USD) AS avg_rent
FROM international_education_costs
GROUP BY city, country
ORDER BY avg_rent;How many programs by degree level
SELECT level, COUNT(program) AS number_of_programs
FROM international_education_costs
GROUP BY level
ORDER BY number_of_programs;Total Annual Cost
SELECT country, city, university, program, level,
(tuition_USD + (rent_USD * 12 * duration_years) +
visafee_USD + (insurance_USD * duration_years)) AS total_cost
FROM international_education_costs
ORDER BY total_cost