UNITED KINGDOM

• About £10,000 (S$23,800) a year for an Arts-based course and up to £21,000 a year for clinical courses.
• Living expenses: About £9,000 a year for accommodation, food and personal expenses. Can be as high as £12,000.

Source: www.educationuk.org www.ukstudentlife.com

AUSTRALIA

• About A$10,000 (S$12,000) a year for a bachelor's degree and as much as A$16,500 a year for laboratory-based courses such as science and engineering.
• Living expenses: About A$18,800 a year for accommodation, food and personal expenses.

Source: http://studyinaustralia.gov.au

UNITED STATES

• Tuition and fees at public two-year colleges in 2008-2009: US$2,400 (S$3,500) per year.
• Tuition and fees at private four-year colleges and universities in 2008-2009: US$25,143, 5.9 per cent higher than in 2007-2008.
• Living expenses: About US$10,400 per year for food, accommodation, utility bills and personal expenses.

Source: 2008 Trends in College Pricing, US College Board, www.infozee.com/usa/expenses.htm

SINGAPORE

• Nanyang Technological University: About $6,600 a year for most courses for Singaporeans who receive a tuition grant from the Education Ministry, which subsidies as much as $26,400 a year for laboratory-based courses.
• National University of Singapore: Also about $6,600 a year for most courses, although some, such as medicine and dentistry, cost much more ($18,960). Music and law courses cost more than $8,000 per year.
• Singapore Management University: Students pay about $9,100 a year for most courses.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.