Growing up in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Sarika Ramanathan expected to go to an American university, just as her three older brothers had when they enrolled in UCLA, Syracuse and Yale. So when her father suggested she consider going to college abroad, “I thought he was crazy,” she recalls. “I hadn’t seen anyone I knew go so far away for school and never imagined living anywhere else.” Plus, she assumed she’d need to be fluent in another language and wasn’t sure how to choose or apply to a foreign school.

Still, her dad had moved from India to the U.S. to attend Southern Methodist University and loved it. And with a little research, she discovered IE University in Spain, with degrees taught in English and students from around the world. Moreover, IE’s four-year communications and digital media program looked a lot like the American programs on her list. “I was like, ‘Wow! This would be such a cool and fun and different experience,’” she says. Three years later, she has studied in Segovia and Madrid, made close friends from around the world and landed internships back in the United States.

Ramanathan is part of a still small but growing group of Americans looking beyond the traditional semester abroad to earning an entire bachelor’s degree overseas. According to a new partial count by the Institute of International Education (which depends on reporting from individual foreign countries), 67% of the more than 90,000 Americans enrolled in full-degree programs abroad in 2025 were undergraduates, up from 35% a decade earlier. During that period, the number of American undergrads more than doubled in the United Kingdom, Spain and Japan. Mexico, which only started reporting to the IIE in 2022, counted the largest population of American undergrads in 2025, with 24,466, followed by the U.K. with 10,200, and Canada with 6,865.

Driving some of the increased demand, college counselors say, are rising U.S. tuition bills and the shrinking odds of gaining admission to elite domestic schools—both of which can make a foreign degree an intriguing alternative for the right student. Some foreign universities, for their part, have tweaked their admissions processes to recognize U.S. credentials and, if English isn’t their primary language, expanded their English-language degree offerings.

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The 15 colleges below, grouped by country, all offer respected three- or four-year English-language degrees and attract U.S. applicants. Some, such as Cambridge and Oxford, are highly selective “reach” schools for even the best students while others, such as John Cabot University in Italy, are more accessible. Admissions experts offer several key pieces of advice and some cautions, which we explain in detail below the list. Bottom line: Most foreign schools work best for motivated students who know from the start what they want to study. While tuition at these schools is generally far below the U.S. private school average, families need to be diligent about crunching all the costs, including travel and the financial aid they might get in the U.S., where private colleges offer a mix of need-based and “merit” discounts. U.S. dollar amounts are based on exchange rates as of Aug. 24, 2026, and rounded for readability. Students should confirm current costs and other details on university websites before applying.

Top International Colleges For U.S. Undergraduate Students

Founded in 1821, McGill is a large, primarily English-language public research university with a full roster of academic offerings including the arts, engineering, business and science and a special bachelor of agricultural and environmental sciences. It enrolls more than 28,000 undergraduates and 27% of all students are international. The downtown Montreal campus combines historic buildings and green space near shops, restaurants and nightlife.

Location: Montreal, Quebec

Degree Length: 3 to 4 years, depending on program, AP credits or IB diploma

Application Requirements: Some program prerequisites. McGill’s testing policy varies by program and cycle; applicants should confirm whether SAT or ACT scores are required for fall 2027.

Application Deadline: Jan. 15 for fall admission

Application Fee: $100 (CA$140)

Annual Tuition Fees: Bachelor of Arts is $40,400 (CA$56,000), but cost varies by program.

Notable Alumni: Billionaire real estate developer Mort Zuckerman; Moderna billionaire cofounder and chairman Noubar Afeyan, who is also founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering

Founded in 1872 as the École Libre des Sciences Politiques, Sciences Po was created to train the French political and social elite in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War. Today, its highly competitive (think Ivy League) three-year bachelor’s degree programs concentrate on the social sciences and humanities, including economics, political science, law, history and sociology. In 2025, U.S. students made up 6% of undergraduates in a total student body of 13,000. Undergraduates study at one of seven campuses, each with a different regional focus; several offer substantial English-language options. International dual degrees (including with Columbia University in New York and the University of California/Berkeley) are available in some programs. Every B.A. student spends the third year away from France at one of more than 400 partner universities.

Locations: Paris and six other undergraduate campuses in France; Reims hosts the most international students.

Degree Length: 3 years

Application Requirements: Direct application through the Sciences Po’s International Pathway. U.S. applicants qualify through approved combinations of SAT, ACT, AP, IB and high school results.

Application Deadline: Admissions open in mid-September for 2027 intake; see Sciences Po website

Application Fee: $175 (€150)

Annual Tuition Fees: $17,400 (€14,900)

Notable Alumni: French President Emmanuel Macron, author Marcel Proust, Christian Dior (who didn’t graduate)

University College Freiburg

Founded in 2012, University College Freiburg—part of the larger University of Freiburg (established in 1457)—brought an American- and Dutch-inspired liberal arts model to this public research institution in southwestern Germany. Its English-taught, four-year liberal arts and sciences program admits only about 80 students annually. After a broad foundational year, students specialize in culture and history, governance, life sciences or environmental and sustainability sciences. The city is on the edge of the Black Forest near the Rhine River; both the Swiss and French borders are less than an hour away by car or train. Classes are held in Freiburg’s historic Alte Universität (Old University), where liberal arts were taught centuries ago.

Location: Freiburg, Germany

Degree Length: 4 years

Application Requirements: For U.S. students, high school diploma equivalency may depend on AP coursework, taking the IB exam results or other credentials.

Application Deadlines: Vary depending on program of study; see the university website.

Application Fee: None

Annual Tuition Fees: $3,900 (€3,380)

Notable Alumni: Billionaire biotech investor Andreas Strüngmann; billionaire Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, CEO of TRUMPF, the world's largest manufacturer of machine tools

University of Hong Kong

Established in 1911, HKU is Hong Kong’s oldest university and its courses are taught in English. Entrance is highly competitive (recommended SAT scores start at 1380 and AP scores at 3). Fields of study include architecture, arts, business, dentistry, education, engineering, law, medicine, science and social sciences, giving American students a wide choice of undergraduate degrees; most are four-year but some professional degrees (such as in medicine) are six-year programs. HKU also offers several dual degree programs, including in economics, the arts or social sciences with UC Berkeley. The university enrolled close to 5,000 undergraduates (including 2.6% from North America) in 2024–25. The school’s 21 residential halls and colleges each have their own traditions and community.

Degree Length: 4 years for most programs

Application Requirements: Direct international application; U.S. applicants use combinations of SAT or ACT and AP results, subject to program-specific standards.

Application Deadline: Applications open Sept. 23, 2026, with deadlines in late November; see the HKU website for details.

Application Fee: $77 (HK$600)

Annual Tuition Fees: $28,600 (HK$224,000) for non-STEM programs; $31,800........

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