Studying at a US university: the benefits

With record numbers of UK students crossing the Atlantic, it is clear that many young people believe that the US offers a college experience that is a little more stimulating than anything back home.

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Around 50 per cent of Columbia students are on a form of financial aid to reduce their fees, from a full scholarship to some form of work-study – making the UK’s elevated fees seem even less viable.

“The thought of paying £9,000 a year really put me off the UK.” says Kirsten Tingle, who left the suburbs of Glasgow this summer to become a freshman at Pomona College in sunny California.

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Kirsten found out about Pomona through the Sutton Trust US programme, set up in 2011 through the Fulbright Commission, to give state school pupils a taste of student life in the States and help them along every step of the process.

Francesca Edwards grew up in Rotherham and was all set to study law in the UK before the Sutton Trust offered her another option late last year: “The programme pointed me to the Field Work term at Bennington College in Vermont, which I loved the sound of.”

Now a freshman at Bennington, Francesca admits that she “struggled with homesickness” but that she has “settled in extremely quickly”.

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Last year the Sutton Trust US programme received 2,200 applications for just 175 places, and their students attend 42 different colleges across the United States.

“When we started our US programme three years ago we knew that American universities could offer students great opportunities” says James Turner, the programme’s director.

“We’ve been astonished at the success of the programme and our places are in high demand. It seems people’s perceptions of study in the US are changing for the better.”

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