How to read tuition figures across currencies without being misled

Study-abroad catalogues routinely publish tuition in whatever currency the institution quoted, in a single field, with no conversion. The result is that a programme priced at 12,500 in one currency sits next to one priced at 5,000 in another, and the cheaper-looking one is often the more expensive.

On Admission.ly the published currency is always shown, because that is the figure the institution will actually invoice you in. Where we show an approximate figure for comparison, it is labelled as approximate and stamped with the date of the rate used.

Three habits worth forming:

• Compare the total, not the year. A three-year bachelor's at 5,000 a year costs less than a four-year one at 4,500.
• Ask what the figure excludes. Registration, examination, laboratory and graduation fees are frequently quoted separately.
• Check who invoices you. An institution's application fee is the institution's charge, not ours, and its refund terms are theirs.

If a price on a page does not match what an institution tells you, the institution is right and we want to know.