Inside study-abroad.org: where your path abroad begins

Studying abroad — but where? Before it’s time for applications, visas or packing boxes, a much bigger question needs answering: which country is right for you, what will studying there cost, and what requirements do you need to meet?

That’s exactly the problem www.study-abroad.org solves — the first stop on the arrimundo journey. The portal helps you get oriented: it compares study destinations, explains admission and visas, and shows what studying really costs — before you commit.

In this profile we look at what’s behind the portal, what it actually offers and where its limits are.

Background and mission

study-abroad.org is a free, editorial information portal for international students. Its tagline: “Discover Your Future Without Borders”. The About page spells out the ambition behind it: making international education simpler, clearer and safer, for students all over the world.

The portal is part of arrimundo — the umbrella brand over six independent portals that together are used by more than a million students every year. It works by the same principles you’ll find on our About page: official sources instead of hearsay, plain language instead of jargon.

The portal’s editorial policy makes that concrete:

• Content is based on official primary sources — depending on the country, that means the DAAD, UKVI or SEVIS, for example.
• Statistics follow a two-source rule.
• Visa guides are updated at least once a year, fees and living costs in the first quarter of each year.
• Paid placements in editorial guides are ruled out. No provider can buy its way into a recommendation.

That matters, because orientation takes trust. When you compare countries, you want to know the numbers come from official sources — not from a marketing brochure.

What you’ll actually find there

At the heart of it all are the country guides: more than 40 study destinations, organised by region — Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Each guide covers the questions that count at the start: admission, visas, costs, funding, universities, housing and career prospects.

The Germany guide shows just how specific that gets: it names the semester contribution (€100–400), monthly living costs (€850–1,400) and the blocked-account amount (€11,904 per year) — and links straight to the DAAD, the Federal Foreign Office and uni-assist.

On top of that come two free calculators at study-abroad.org/tools:

Tool	What it does
Chancenkarte points calculator	Checks against 8 criteria whether you reach the 6-point minimum for Germany’s Chancenkarte (Opportunity Card)
Study cost calculator	Estimates your costs for 12 countries and 39 cities — no sign-up needed

The study cost calculator is especially useful early on: it shows you quickly whether your dream destination fits your budget — or whether you’d be better off comparing an alternative too.

There’s also a blog with categories like finance, student life, visas, careers and city guides, dedicated guides to the US states, a searchable topic overview and a free newsletter with weekly updates. All of it is freely accessible — you don’t need an account and you pay nothing.

The portal is available in ten languages — including a complete German version. Especially at the beginning, when so much is still new, it helps to be able to read in your own language.

How this stop fits into your journey

study-abroad.org is stop 1 of 6 — the starting point of the journey, so there’s no stop before it. This is where you settle the fundamental questions: where do you want to go, what awaits you there, and can you afford it? Only once those questions are answered do the next steps make sense.

After it comes stop 2: Language. If your choice falls on Germany, German is the key to studying and everyday life — that’s what www.sprachschule.org takes care of. What exactly that portal offers is covered in our profile of sprachschule.org.

Further along the path, funding, study preparation, health insurance and settling in are waiting. You’ll find the complete roadmap with all six stops in our overview of the study journey.

One thing to know: you don’t have to start at stop 1. If you already know your destination country, you can join further along — the journey is a common thread, not a mandatory programme. But if you’re still comparing, study-abroad.org is the right place. Good orientation at the start spares you expensive detours later.

What the portal won’t do for you

Honest, even when it’s uncomfortable — that principle applies to this profile too. So let’s be clear about what study-abroad.org doesn’t do:

• It doesn’t apply for you. The portal explains admission and visas, but you file the applications yourself — with the university, with uni-assist or at the embassy.
• It isn’t personal advice. You get well-researched guides and calculators, but no assessment of your individual case. For special cases, only direct contact with the university or the authority will do.
• It doesn’t decide for you. The guides compare, you choose. That’s deliberate: you stay in control.
• It doesn’t make studying any cheaper. Studying abroad costs money — in Germany, for example, €11,904 a year for the blocked account, plus living costs. The portal states numbers like these openly instead of playing them down.
• The official bodies always have the final say. The guides are updated regularly, but rules can change at any time. Check important details with the source before you make a decision — the guides link to it directly.

Your next step

If you’re right at the start: open the country guide that interests you and run an honest calculation of your costs. Both are free and need no sign-up.

Start at https://www.study-abroad.org — or go straight to the German version at study-abroad.org/de. And as soon as your destination is set, the language comes next: in our profile of sprachschule.org.