Study in United States: Admission, Cost, Visa and Scholarships (2027)

The United States does not run a single centralized university admissions system. Each of its roughly 4,000 accredited colleges and universities sets its own application, deadlines, tuition and English test requirements, so applicants compare institutions individually rather than filling out one national form. Institutions range from small liberal arts colleges to large public research universities and two year community colleges that award associate degrees and often lead into a four year program.

The academic year most commonly runs from late August or September to May, split into two main semesters of about sixteen to eighteen weeks, though some universities use a quarter or trimester calendar with shorter terms instead. Fall is the main intake for nearly every university, and it is when the great majority of international first year students arrive; a smaller number of universities also admit new students in January for the spring term, and a few open some programs in the summer.

Tuition is charged per year and depends heavily on whether a university is public or private, and, at public universities, on the fact that international students are billed at the nonresident rate rather than the lower rate charged to students who live in that state. Among the large public universities most commonly recommended to international applicants, nonresident tuition and fees for 2026 to 2027 run from a little over 32,000 dollars a year to just above 61,000 dollars a year, and the private nonprofit universities in this dataset run from about 68,500 to about 75,000 dollars a year. Nationally, the College Board's own Trends in College Pricing report puts the average published tuition and fee figure at 31,880 dollars for public four year out of state students and 45,000 dollars for private nonprofit four year students in 2025 to 2026.

Most undergraduate applicants apply through the Common Application, the Coalition Application, or a university's own portal, and submit secondary school transcripts, an application essay, and, for students whose education was not in English, a TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo English Test or PTE Academic score; a growing number of universities have made SAT and ACT scores optional for admission. After admission, a university's international student office issues a Form I-20 certifying the cost of a year of study, which the applicant uses to apply for the F-1 student visa. F-1 students can work up to 20 hours a week on campus during term and full time during university breaks, and most can work for up to 12 months after graduation under Optional Practical Training, extended to a total of 36 months for graduates in an eligible science, technology, engineering or mathematics field.