Database Access

The DIY path allows you to browse thousands of accredited European programs taught in English. You won't have to bounce around hundreds of institutional websites in foreign languages, nor will you need to depend on free listing services that promote sponsored listings that may not be accredited at all. With Beyond the States, you'll find all the accredited English-taught programs in one place.

Online Courses

Beyond access to the only database of 11,400 English-taught programs in Europe, you'll get access to online courses to help you master the program selection & college admissions process. You'll learn how to discover your ideal area of study, which countries work for your needs, how to consider tuition, and many other topics that help you reveal your ideal matches, instantly.

While friends, social media, or online portals can be helpful, their information can be limited or biased. Our self-paced courses provide a deep dive into topics with action steps to complete along the way, guiding you through the often confusing European college landscape so you can avoid frustration and disappointment.

You'll get access to 5 self-paced courses:

• Choosing a University – This 4-part course helps you determine your own criteria for choosing a program and school. We cover quantifiable criteria around budget, admissions requirements, and fields of study. We also discuss what to look for (and red flags) in schools, programs, locations, and student life.
• Admissions in Europe – This popular 4-part course helps you understand Europe’s entirely different admissions process. We go through the differing admissions requirements of different countries, address potential obstacles, headaches, and solutions, and walk through the motivation letter and CV.
• How to Choose a Major – This 3-part course is helpful even if you’re pretty clear about what you want to study. Through lessons and exercises, you’ll learn how your unique interests translate into the different study areas in Europe, and which programs you’re most aligned with.
• All About the Netherlands – This is a popular 7-lesson course due to the notable number and range of English-taught college degree options in the Netherlands. Covers basic and specific information about the Dutch universities, academic life, student life, housing, admissions, and financial considerations.
• Business Programs – 4 lessons cover the similarities and differences of business programs at research universities, universities of applied science, and business schools. Learn about accreditation, admissions, and specific programs with unique offerings.

These are self-paced video courses with full transcriptions available.

Private Facebook Group

After purchasing the product, you'll receive an email with a link to the Facebook group. Simply request to join the group and you'll be prompted to enter the email you used to sign up. Alternatively, you can also sign up for the group in the My Account section on our website - from there, click Community. Your request will be promptly approved and you'll now be a part of the Facebook community. Help is plentiful, with parents and students from all over the country providing instant feedback on your most pressing questions.

This popular service, for Bachelor’ and Master’s prospects, is the cream of the crop. We use our expertise in creating a customized list of 3-5 programs just for you - based on the details of a comprehensive intake form you submit that digs deep into your needs, preferences, area(s) of study, budget, educational background, and on. Each Best Fit List Service is billed on a per student basis. You can order additional lists for additional students at any time.

Additional to everything included in the DIY package (see above), this service includes:

Best Fit List Service

Our BFL offering essentially allows us to pull the weight if you’re uninterested or unable to do the research, are in a time-crunch, or just need extra reinforcement when considering and choosing programs in Europe. The service includes:

• Details and links to each program
• Tuition, admissions, concentration options
• Course and degree requirements
• Internship & study abroad opportunities
• Geographic & campus information
• Housing info & considerations
• Application advice & potential issues
• Post-graduate employment information.
• and more!

Preview a Best Fit List here.

One-on-One Session

After purchase, you will receive instant access to a comprehensive intake form as well as a booking link to schedule your call. You can elect to fill out the survey form before the call and review it during the call, or you can fill it out after the initial call to ensure you give us all the details in full. During the call we'll review each program from the list, the reasoning behind each one, and provide actionable advice on admissions, country requirements, and travel.

Best Fit List Delivery Time

Since we run thorough research for each student, including personality profiles and budgeting considerations, a Best Fit List takes 21 days (3 weeks) or less to deliver. You'll may receive an email if we have additional questions. You'll get an email with final delivery of your list.

Masterclass

Additional to the standard courses, the Best Fit List package includes access to our Masterclass. These are separated into two:

• On Your Mark – At the end of this six week course, you should have an understanding of why you want to study in Europe (beyond cost) as well as how to explore any remaining concerns. You'll cement knowledge of areas of study that align with your interests, preferably those that combine more than one interest area. Get an understanding of the strengths you already have as well as those you need cultivate in order to succeed as an international student.
• Get Set – This 3-week Masterclass covers European university application terms, timelines, and processes that U.S. students and high school counselors may not be familiar with. It will help you determine what you need to apply, how to gather those items, how to be sure those items meet the university specifications, a timeline for each of the European schools you'll apply to, and how to write a motivation letter.

This full service package, for Bachelor’s prospects only, is the dream. We use our expertise in creating a customized list of 3-5 programs just for you - based on the details of a comprehensive intake form you submit that digs deep into your needs, preferences, area(s) of study, budget, educational background, and on. We then guide you through the entire admissions process and provide additional services to guarantee admission into one of the programs we selected for you. Each Best Fit List Service is billed on a per student basis. You can order additional lists for additional students at any time.

Additional to everything included in the Best Fit List Service (see above), this service includes:

5 x One-on-One Sessions

2 x Best Fit List Calls

You get two one-on-one consultation sessions, an onboarding call to discuss your intake form plus a follow up call to discuss the options we selected for you.

After purchase, you will receive instant access to a comprehensive intake form as well as a booking link to schedule your first call. You can elect to fill out the survey form before the call and review it during the call, or you can fill it out after the initial call to ensure you give us all the details in full.

After delivery of your list, you will receive a booking link to schedule a discussion call. During this one-on-one sessions, we'll review each program from the list, the reasoning behind each one, and provide actionable advice on admissions, country requirements, and travel.

3 x Additional Calls

Beyond the calls related to the Best Fit List, you'll get 3 additional calls that'll cover admissions and any other pressing issues you may encounter along the way. You'll be provided with 3 booking links that'll grant you direct access to Kristin Hamaker (our chief college advisor) calendar. You are free to utilize them when you need them most, although we'll recommend key moments in which we should begin discussions.

Best Fit List Delivery Time

Since we run thorough research for each student, including personality profiles and budgeting considerations, a Best Fit List takes 21 days (3 weeks) or less to deliver. You'll may receive an email if we have additional questions. You'll get an email with final delivery of your list.

Masterclass

Additional to the standard courses provided with the DIY package, the Best Fit List package includes access to our Masterclass. These are separated into two:

• On Your Mark – At the end of this six week course, you should have an understanding of why you want to study in Europe (beyond cost) as well as how to explore any remaining concerns. You'll cement knowledge of areas of study that align with your interests, preferably those that combine more than one interest area. Get an understanding of the strengths you already have as well as those you need cultivate in order to succeed as an international student.
• Get Set – This 3-week Masterclass covers European university application terms, timelines, and processes that U.S. students and high school counselors may not be familiar with. It will help you determine what you need to apply, how to gather those items, how to be sure those items meet the university specifications, a timeline for each of the European schools you'll apply to, and how to write a motivation letter.

These are self-paced video courses with full transcriptions available.

Call with Student in Europe

We'll put you in touch with a student in Europe so you can discuss their day in the life, as well as their entire admissions process. We cannot guarantee that they'll be from the exact university you'll be applying to, but rest assured that we'll do our best efforts. We have hundreds of students scattered all over Europe!

Email Support & Correspondence

With the full service package, you'll have access 5 email correspondences with 5 Q&As in each. This means we'll be able to answer a total of 25 questions via email, should you need them. This service helps you resolve any underlying concerns and avoid common mistakes throughout the process.

Absolutely! To see a preview of a Best Fit List, click here.

Please note that Best Fit Lists are produced based on personality, career goals, geographic matching, and budget requirements, and require extensive research on country and college requirements, including admissions, proof of means, and many other variables that only years of experience can cover.

After purchasing any of the plans, you'll receive an email with a link to the Facebook group. Simply request to join the group and you'll be prompted to enter the email you used to sign up. Alternatively, you can also sign up for the group in the My Account section on our website - from there, click Community. Your request will be promptly approved and you'll now be a part of the Facebook community. Help is plentiful, with parents and students from all over the country providing instant feedback on your most pressing questions.

Talk with Kristin

For added support and reassurance, some services include a 45-minute 1:1 consultation call with Beyond the States founder and Chief College Advisor, Kristin Hamaker. You can discuss any pressing questions, and glean from her expert guidance. You can also book a separate call by buying the add-on by itself.

Best Fit Lists Sessions

These include 2 calls. One onboarding call to discuss your personality and needs, and another to discuss your Best Fit List. This helps ensure your list of programs is pinpoint accurate to your needs.

Call Format

Calls will be held via Google Meet. To join the call, you'll need a computer with a working internet browser with microphone and video permissions. You can also join the call from the phone if you have Google Meet installed. If all else fails, you'll have numbers available on the calendar invite that you can call. You can reschedule the call directly from the calendar invite we send you, so long as it's not within the same day. Otherwise, this will be considered a non-refundable no-show.

You can bring others on the call, as long as you're within the same family group. Bring your mom, dad, daughter, son, or anyone else involved in your decision-making. You can add more people to the call by clicking 'Add guests' in the booking link. They don't have to be on the same computer or phone to join.

Talk with Students

Looking for a 1:1 with one of our student ambassadors in Europe? Get the full service package and get connected with students attending universities you may be interested in.

Yes! Not only are the programs taught entirely in English, but all out-of-class and homework materials are in English as well. Keep in mind too, that for the most part, the level of English proficiency is generally high in each of the countries represented in our database. Thankfully, you'll be surrounded by international students that are all in the same boat as you.

Areas of Study

Agriculture, Architecture and Related Services, Biological and Physical Sciences, Business and Economics, Communications and Journalism, Computer Science, Information Science, and Technology, Education and Child Development, Engineering and Engineering Technology, Environmental Studies and Earth Sciences, Erasmus Mundus Program, Health Sciences, Humanities, Human Services, Liberal Arts, Math and Statistics, Social Science, Transportation, Visual Arts, Performing Arts, and Design, and Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure. Each expands into more specific areas of study, of which there are 212 in total.

Countries

The database includes English-taught programs from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

We don't include the UK in our database and materials. Our database and resources strictly reflect accredited, English-taught schools across continental Europe and in Ireland. Our passion at Beyond the States is to provide American families with solutions to the problems we face in the US, be it the cost, expectations for admissions, undergraduate experience, or employment issues after graduation.

UK schools don't necessarily qualify for our mission since they often have similarly high-tuition costs to the US, similarly flawed admissions processes, and fewer post-college opportunities due to Brexit. Read more in this blog post we did on the subject.

The motivation letter is a document that is sometimes required during the admissions process. It asks you to describe your competence as well as your personal motivations for pursuing a particular area of study at a specific university.

A motivation letter that slaps will swoon admissions faculty, so you need to ensure it leaves a lasting impression. But with so little resources available online, how will you know what they're looking for? What type of wording resonates well with European colleges? And how will you make sure your motivation letter is memorable enough for quick approval by the degree of your choice? This is where we come in. Having gone through the process ourselves and speaking to admissions experts from dozens of schools, we know how to tailor your motivation letter for admissions success.

NOTE: We'll be using our expertise to offer changes and suggestions, but we won't be rewriting it entirely.

The full service package includes a Motivation Letter Review for each of the colleges you apply to from the Best Fit List. Each Motivation Letter Review includes one round of revisions via email. Additional revision rounds require you purchase an additional Motivation Letter Review to your account.

Our Full Service Package guarantees that you'll get into at least one of the colleges and programs from the Best Fit List that we produce. This is why we include 5 consultation calls on the service, to ensure you get matched with the perfect programs that meet your aspirations, needs, and strict budget requirements. To qualify for the money back guarantee, you must meet the following requirements:

• Have a tuition budget of at least $7500 per year.
• You must not disqualify more than 5 countries from your Best Fit List.
• You must apply to at least 2 of your Best Fit List college programs that we selected for you.
• Have or plan to have an accredited high school diploma.
• 2.75 Minimum GPA

If you decide to not apply or discontinue the application process for any of the colleges that we selected, you will not qualify for the money-back guarantee. We will discuss this process during the onboarding call to ensure we select college programs that you'll love.

On all other services and products, due to the nature of digital access and our services, we are unable to offer refunds or guarantees under any circumstances.

With 3200+ Bachelor's and 8200+ Master's programs, we're sure you'll find the one ideal program for you or your family members, and we're happy to guide your most pressing questions. If you can't find your ideal degree, please reach out to us for personalized search guidance. Bear in mind, there are no refunds products and services, except for the Get In, Guaranteed™ service, but we will provide extra help to ensure you get what you're looking for.

Absolutely! Help is plentiful, with parents and students from all over the country providing instant feedback on your most pressing questions.

After purchasing the product, you'll receive an email with a link to the Facebook group. Simply request to join the group and you'll be prompted to enter the email you used to sign up. Alternatively, you can also sign up for the group in the My Account section on our website - from there, click Community. Your request will be promptly approved and you'll now be a part of the Facebook community.

You can keep access to the Facebook group for life.

Some European colleges and universities do require APs, and this is because of the difference in high-school diplomas, but most programs across Europe do not have this requirement. Thankfully, you can filter for programs in our database that don't require APs for admissions.

If you’re looking for a viable alternative to college in the US, either because you’re pursuing an affordable degree, and/or an admissions process that is transparent and accessible allowing you to opt out of the US college admissions rat race and exorbitant tuition costs, then a college degree in Europe may be just what you need.

Beyond cost-savings and straightforward admissions, you will surely also benefit from Europe’s access to travel, international experience and path to global citizenship, high-quality programs and employment perks of being an international student in Europe, and many other rewards that come with this unique experience.  

The process for admissions at European colleges is relatively straightforward, and we offer resources for each step of the journey:

1. Be aware of admissions requirements that different countries have and plan accordingly.  
2. Follow your interests as opposed to padding your resume.
3. Meet the admissions requirements.
4. Don’t get caught up in the admissions stress around you.

Yes, in fact it may offer you better career prospects. There is strong evidence that the name of the university matters very little in the hiring process, and this becomes even more true with there is relevant experience (including internships) on the applicant’s resume. Certainly the soft skills gained by studying outside of your home country is something that employers are looking for, and these could be highlighted in a cover letter.

Professions that require licensure are a different matter., and may require a few extra steps when you return to the US. These include many careers related to health care, education, social work, psychology, law, and architecture. There are some fields of study, like education, that really do need study completed in the country in which you intend to work. If you want to be a teacher in the US, you need to learn about the curriculum and policies specific to the US. In fact, the majority of the English-taught education type programs in Europe focus on teaching at international schools as opposed to the education system in that country. A university in Finland, for instance, wouldn’t have an education program about the Finnish education system taught in English because teachers in Finland need to be fluent in Finnish.

Read more about whether or not a degree from Europe will work in the US.

Yes, there are over 3400 of accredited, 100% English-taught undergraduate degrees to choose from across Europe; no foreign language required. More and more students from the US, and other countries, are heading to Europe for higher ed opportunities, and for good reason - there are so many affordable, high-quality English-taught programs that offer something…more.  

Yes, there are over 8,000 of accredited, 100% English-taught master’s degrees to choose from across Europe; no foreign language required. More and more students from the US, and other countries, are heading to Europe for higher ed opportunities, and for good reason - there are so many affordable, high-quality English-taught programs that offer something…more.  

While many schools in Europe work with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), many do not. However, sometimes they offer other funding opportunities. At most schools in the Netherlands, for instance, incoming international students can apply for the merit-based Holland Scholarship, which is a one-time payment of 5,000 euros. And in France, all students— including international students—can receive a housing subsidy, called CAF, of around 100 euros per month. Finland just recently began charging international students tuition fees; however, along with the fees came a mandate that every school offer scholarship opportunities for international students. These scholarships are generally a merit-based tuition waiver for anywhere from 25-100% of tuition. Note: our database of schools offers a filter for schools that have a FAFSA #, and our listings often include other financial support opportunities for that school.

So what happens if you have money saved in a 529 account and the European school you want to go to doesn’t have a FAFSA number? Here’s a podcast episode we did on this very topic. Super insightful!  

Europe considers education to be a right, not a privilege. That's why they subsidize college and promote a stronger work-force, which will then pay taxes as a productive citizen. Typically, a European country will recover college expenses after 9 years, even when you factor in that many students are international.

In continental Europe, the average cost of all the English-taught bachelor’s programs is just $7,390 per year. Since 1985, US college costs have surged by about 1000 percent, and tuition and fees continue to rise. Even when you factor in the cost of travel, going to college in Europe if often cheaper than one year of tuition at a state college in the US.