Choose a destination to see official cost references.
Free planning estimates only. This is not financial, tax or visa advice, a payment service or a booking service.
Never arrange temporary deposits or borrow money merely to display a visa bank balance. Misleading financial evidence may be fraudulent. Use genuine, available funds and truthful documents; an officially accepted, properly documented education loan is a separate matter.
1. Compare yearly cost references
Compare only examples covering the same costs and period.
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Start with official examples, build a course estimate, then plan payment months and a parents’ visit. You control the assumptions.
Changing destination clears amounts, payments and school/city notes so a number is never silently relabelled in a different currency.
Named examples and official guide ranges below include different costs and periods. Tuition, partial living costs and total attendance are not interchangeable. They are not national minimum/maximum prices or complete twelve-month quotes unless the source says so.
Dated reference rates; latest check not yet confirmed. Rate reference date: 2026-10-08. European Central Bank · Reference reviewed: 2026-10-08 · Reference obtained: 2026-10-08T19:47:22.273Z. Conversions use a dated reference, not a bank quote, and do not update the original fee year or cost scope.
RMB figures are approximate, rounded to the nearest 100 yuan.
US public university: one school example
CSU Long Beach undergraduate I-20 minimum
$47,778.00
RMB (CNY) planning reference: Approx. CN¥320,200
2026–27 academic year; fall and spring, 24 units · Attendance budget
Includes estimated tuition/fees, living and insurance. Excludes miscellaneous personal expenses, inflation and additional units; actual cost can be higher. Not a complete twelve-month spending quote.
2026–27 academic year; autumn, winter and spring quarters · Attendance budget
Travel varies; international health insurance and new-student one-time fees are additional. Summer is outside this standard academic-year table. Aid is assessed separately.
2026–27 academic year: nine months of academic and living expenses · Attendance budget
One school's estimate, also its I-20 funding amount. Includes the application fee, tuition/fees for 12 units per semester over two semesters, insurance, housing/meals, books, transport and personal costs. Insurance includes summer; summer living/tuition and travel need separate estimates. Not a twelve-month quote or transfer-degree budget.
Use your course’s official duration and dated fee offer. No student earnings are assumed.
Official references are available above. An adult must confirm before using the calculator.
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The study years below are planning choices, not promises about any country or degree. Future years repeat your annual estimate without an inflation forecast. We assume no earnings from student work.
Visa funding: check separately from spending
A funding minimum is evidence for an application, not a bill to add to tuition. Rules depend on the applicant, family, date and place. These references do not assess your evidence or promise approval.
For academic college study, the usual visa category is F-1: acceptance at a school approved by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) → school-issued I-20 eligibility certificate and registration in the government's Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) → I-901 SEVIS fee → DS-160 online nonimmigrant visa application → consular fee and interview according to the embassy's instructions. Admission and a visa decision are separate.
For mainland Chinese F/M/J applicants, published U.S. mission guidance instructs applicants to make their social-media profiles public for visa vetting. State Department instructions say to book the interview in your country of nationality or residence and to prove residence when that is the basis. Application fees are non-refundable; an out-of-country application fee cannot be transferred. Current China-specific appointment capacity, including Beijing’s, is unconfirmed here: use the China mission’s current instructions and do not assume an available slot.
The State Department says you may need evidence of how you will pay educational, living and travel costs. There is no single dollar balance quoted for every school on that page. Use the chosen school's I-20 budget and current documentary instructions; CSU Long Beach's USD 47,778 first-year undergraduate minimum is only its 2026–27 example.
Do not borrow or arrange a temporary bank balance only to display for a visa. That warning does not rule out genuine official or bank education loans where the immigration authority accepts them and the money is genuinely available for study. EducationUSA lists loans among funding options, but this is not blanket U.S. visa approval of any loan: verify the actual loan terms and the school’s I-20 and consular evidence requirements.
The published F/M visa application fee is USD 185; the I-901 SEVIS fee for new F/M students is USD 350, with any applicable issuance charge separate. New F/M visas can be issued up to 365 days before the course starts, but entry on that visa is no earlier than 30 days before its start. Approval is not guaranteed; recheck fees and consular instructions before paying or booking.
A separate Visa Integrity Fee is established by law: its initial fiscal-year 2025 minimum is USD 250, with annual inflation adjustments from fiscal year 2026. As reviewed on 8 October 2026, collection in China and the current adjusted amount are unconfirmed here. Do not assume either a zero charge or a final USD 250 bill; check the current official consular fee instructions before payment.
Current-status caution reviewed 8 October 2026: the codified rule and university notices about a court pause are not aligned. We have not confirmed the applicable new fixed-stay or post-completion filing deadline. Check current agency guidance and your I-94 with the school's designated school official (DSO) before relying on either version.
For a parent's campus or family visit, check this official visitor guidance against their passport and circumstances. Read current eligibility and document instructions before planning payments. The student's admission or visa does not establish the parent's approval or entry permission; visitor costs are separate family inputs.
U.S. Department of State · US visitor visa / 美国访问签证Reviewed: 2026-10-08The information was checked by a person, but updates cannot be checked automatically here; confirm it on the official page before applying.
Budget amounts, school/city notes and travel details stay in this page’s memory. They are not sent to a server or stored in a browser/account. Exchange-rate refreshes do not include your budget inputs. Download to keep a copy; refresh or clear to discard. The site’s language preference may be stored separately.