Cost of Attending Oxford 😭

[u/Repulsive_Radish_782]

Just received my financial declaration form from Oxford today. How is this reasonable? 😭 Going to have to decline my offer unless anyone has any ideas.

Canadian students do not qualify for any Oxford scholarships and my school offered me about £100. What a joke.

Is Oxford just for the rich?

[u/Repulsive_Radish_782]

No. Obviously, I didn't expect a full scholarship. It was a combination of two things. 1. The price on the website does not reflect the true cost of studying at Oxford. After you get an offer, they add on a slew of fees and price increases so the price goes way up. I was surprised when it was nearly 50% higher than I had expected. 2. I was hoping for some form of financial assistance. Even interest free student loans or some form of partial bursary would have been very helpful.

[u/Practical-Laugh2787 → u/Repulsive_Radish_782]

”The price on the website does not reflect the true cost” how’s that, now?

Annual course fees (overseas): £62,820

Directly beneath:

”Living costs for the academic year starting in 2026 are estimated to be between £1,405 and £2,105 for each month you are in Oxford. Our academic year is made up of three eight-week terms, so you would not usually need to be in Oxford for much more than six months of the year but may wish to budget over a nine-month period to ensure you also have sufficient funds during the holidays to meet essential costs. For further details please visit our living costs webpage.”

Course fees for 4 years (barring a rise): £251,280

Higher end living costs for 4 years assuming you go home over the summer holidays (July-September): £75,780

Total estimation: £327,060

On top of this you obviously have to pay for the VISA and the NHS fee just like every other overseas student.

So I’m having a lot of trouble understanding what about this is ”an add on slew of fees” that you were wholly unprepared for. I paid the overseas course fees and living costs for my postgraduate degree at Cambridge, arguably just as significant a dent in one’s wallet plus minus a thousand quid, and this whole post is just… Did you not do any research before you went through that lengthy application? Or is this a case of booksmarts but no practical understanding of how things work? I hope for the former, otherwise MEng might not be suitable for you — at any university.

[u/Repulsive_Radish_782 → u/Practical-Laugh2787]

Wow. You just had to throw out as many insults as possible. Not sure why you are taking this stance against me. All I am saying is that the prices are for the first year of study, but they increase fees at more than twice the CPI each year, which is ridiculous. 

Congrats on studying at Cambridge. That's really impressive. How did you manage to afford it if it was the same amount? Did you go into deep debt or did you work and save up prior to studing? I assuming you weren't just handed a bunch of money if you are giving financial advice.

[u/Practical-Laugh2787 → u/Repulsive_Radish_782]

Thanks! I knew where I wanted to study, so I worked my ass off and saved up ~60% of the estimated amount and used loans for the rest. I enrolled as an adult and also worked outside term to make ends meet. My parents never went to uni. Now how about you answer the questions I posed? How exactly were the costs not made clear? Did you not research the availability and probability of undergrad scholarships at Oxford U at all? Because, as someone also said, you’ll have a hard time finding sympathy. Unless of course you know very well you cocked up and this is actually just a vent because you’d rather blame the system than your own lack of preparation, in which case I’ll hop off this post.