What It Costs to Apply to University as an International Student, and How to Get the Fees Waived

Before a single admissions officer reads a word you have written, applying to ten US universities can cost you $1,235.

Applying to five UK universities costs £34.50, total.

That gap decides how long most international students' lists are, and it gets discussed less than almost anything else in admissions. Here is what each part costs, taken from the organisations that charge it, and which of the waivers you are allowed to use.

What colleges charge

Common App is a membership organisation of more than 1,100 institutions, and it leaves the fee to each of them. Its own guidance puts it plainly: "Each college can choose how much to charge, and whether or not they charge a fee at all."

The number worth knowing is on the same page:

500+ colleges have no application fee for international students.

That is Common App's own published figure, and it is close to half the membership. Common App reports it separately from a count of 500+ with no fee for domestic students, and lists the two fees separately inside the application, so check the international figure rather than one you see quoted elsewhere.

At the other end, fees are set at each college's discretion and the most selective charge the most. Stanford's application page lists a $100 nonrefundable application fee. The University of California charges international applicants $95 per campus, against $80 for everyone else.

Three places inside Common App list what each college charges, and one matters more than the others for you. Under My Colleges, application fees for domestic and international applicants are listed separately. The Requirements Grid, a downloadable PDF covering every college that uses Common App, lists fees for all of them at once. And College Search lets you filter for colleges that charge no fee.

Filtering for the no-fee colleges before you build your list is the highest-value thing on this page.

Fee waivers

Four organisations can charge you during an application cycle. Only one of them runs a waiver you are allowed to use.

Common App

Common App's applicant page answers it directly: "International students may be eligible for a Common App fee waiver. Each college has their own policies."

The waiver is not small. Common App granted $133 million in fee waivers in 2022-23, to more than 400,000 applicants, and one waiver covers "the application fee of any college you apply to through Common App."

There are nine eligibility routes and eight are US-specific: free or reduced-price lunch, an SAT or ACT fee waiver, USDA income guidelines, public assistance, federal housing, Pell Grant eligibility, TRIO or GEAR UP enrolment. The ninth works from anywhere:

"You can provide a supporting statement from a school official, college access counselor, financial aid officer, or community leader."

That is your route. Two practical notes from Common App's own guidance: your counselor will be asked to confirm your eligibility, and you can submit your application without paying while that confirmation is pending. A slow counselor does not cost you a deadline.

Individual colleges go further. Harvard publishes a page specifically on fee waivers for international students: "If the admissions application fee presents a hardship for you or your family, the fee will be waived... Requesting a fee waiver will not disadvantage your application in any way."

The University of California

UC charges international applicants $95 per campus. There are nine undergraduate campuses, so the system alone is $855.

Its waiver does not reach you. UC's own page: "The fee waiver program is for United States citizens, permanent residents, and applicants eligible for AB540 benefits."

International students enrolled at a US institution may qualify for the $80 rate, which is the only concession on offer.

CSS Profile

Hundreds of US institutions use CSS Profile to assess students for their own aid, and it costs $25 for the first university and $16 for each additional one.

The waiver is limited by where you live. College Board's wording: "Undergraduate students living in the U.S. may submit CSS Profile for free if" family income is up to $100,000, the student qualified for an SAT fee waiver, or the student is an orphan or ward of the court.

Apply from outside the US and you pay, which means the charge falls on the students asking for aid because they cannot pay.

The SAT

Testing outside the US costs $68 plus a $43 international fee, so $111, with a test centre fee at some centres and $15 per score report after the first four.

College Board states the rule plainly: "Fee waivers may be granted to eligible nationals of countries other than the United States only if they reside and test in the United States or United States territories. Outside of the U.S., fee waivers may only be granted to eligible U.S. citizens residing outside the United States."

This has a knock-on effect. One of the nine Common App waiver routes is holding an SAT or ACT fee waiver. Test in your own country and you cannot hold one, which closes that route and leaves the supporting statement as your way in.

What a list costs

Using only published figures, here is a student applying to the nine UC campuses plus Stanford, sending CSS Profile to all ten, and sitting the SAT once at home:

Ten universities, none of it tuition, and only the Stanford line can be waived.

Now the same student applying to the UK. UCAS charges £34.50 for up to five choices for 2027 entry. One payment, five universities.

This is not an argument for the UK over the US. It is the reason to know the numbers before you build a list, because a US list gets more expensive with every university you add and a UK list does not.

How to bring it down

Filter for the no-fee colleges first. Common App's own search does this, and 500+ of its members charge international students nothing. Every one you add is a free shot.

Request the Common App waiver with a supporting statement. Your principal, a teacher who knows your circumstances, or a community leader can write it. Ask early, because they may never have written one before, and submit while your counselor's confirmation is pending rather than waiting on it.

Ask the college directly when you do not meet Common App's indicators. Harvard's international page tells students in exactly that position to follow its own instructions instead, and states that asking will not disadvantage the application. Other colleges run their own waivers too, and the request costs nothing.

Count the CSS Profile before you add a university. Each extra need-aware private adds $16 on top of its application fee.

Check whether a university requires the SAT at all before paying $111 to sit it.

Start your own journey

Money spent applying is money you cannot spend on the degree. A student who spends $2,000 on twenty applications and gets into a university that will not fund them has lost twice.

Build the list around what you can pay to apply, then what you can pay to attend, then everything else.

Kai, the Borderless AI college counselor, works out what your list will cost to apply to, flags which universities charge nothing, and tells you which ones take a fee waiver from an international applicant. It's free to use.

Start with Kai, and read the stories from students who did it on a budget.