Americans flocking to Canadia for cheaper school fees

[Titanium]

With soaring tuition costs and a generation burdened with massive student loans, more American students are looking to Canada for higher education at lower prices.

Over the last ten years, the number of American students at Canadian colleges rose 50 per cent.

Today, approximately 10,000 Americans are enrolled at Canadian schools, according to the Institute for College Access & Success.

At McGill University in Montreal, about six per cent of the student body is American. And the numbers are growing.

In comparison to colleges like McGill, American students carry an average of more than $26,000 in debt and roughly nine per cent of those grads will default on those loans within two years of graduation.

Tuition is the largest cost of attending school in the U.S.

Eric Andreasen, 23, will graduate this spring with a political science major from McGill.

The Maine native had to chose between McGill and George Washington University in D.C..

McGill offered him a full undergraduate education at the same price of only a single year at George Washington.

Compared to their American counterparts, Canadian universities have massive government support.

'When the financial packages came in, it was a no-brainer for me,' Andreasen told NBC News.

Along with lower tuition costs, American students can use college savings plans, U.S. student loans, and apply for Canadian university scholarships.
Another McGill student, Leah Ott, 20, said she was impressed with the school's reputation.

Ott came from Houston to study physiology at the school.

'There are three girls in our family and we're all attending university now,' she said. 'Money is definitely a factor.'

The application process is also streamlined.

Canadian universities typically care less about essays, recommendations, and interviews.

'It is the grades and the SAT scores, that combination is what we consider when we look at an applicant's file.'

And because the school's degrees are globally recognized the school's argue they are a passport to good jobs.

'I'm coming out with minimal debt,' Andreasen said. 'It brightens up the prospect of the future for me.'

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