Studying in the UK

The UK is the top destination for Americans who wish to study outside of the United States. According to the Institute of International Education and the US State Department, more than 45,000 US students study in the UK.

According to US News and World Report rankings, of the world's top 10 Universities, 4 are located in the UK. Educational partnerships with the US have enabled both nations to form hubs of research and innovation which draw in the best from the rest of the world.

Higher education institutions in the United Kingdom and United States have a long history of collaboration. Many of the discoveries that continue to shape our world are made through UK/US partnerships. American geneticist James Watson and British biologist Francis Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953; their joint Nobel Prize in 1962 was one of the twenty-six UK/US joint prizes that have been awarded, including eight of the nine Nobel science prizes in 2010. Important collaborative work continues today in cutting-edge fields like nanotechnology, immunology, and cognitive neuroscience. The UK and US remain one another's partner of choice for education and research, with tens of thousands of students and professors populating British and American universities.

Studying for a UK qualification is a sound, long-term investment. There is great value in living and studying here. There is a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses available. These range from medicine, law, accountancy and architecture to the arts, media, humanities, science and business.

First you might like to check whether you could apply for a special scholarship through one of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office schemes, such as the Marshall Scholarship.

You can also find out more about where you can go to apply for loans, grants and other schemes to help you take the course you have picked.

Of course, part of the joy of studying is the chance to meet and mix with fellow students. Here you can find out about student life, how much it costs and whether you will be able to work to support yourself.

Finally there are some useful links which will tell you all you need to know about being a student in the UK. There’s information about whether you need a visa, how to find work and professional student organizations, and who can help with any problems you might have.