Study abroad at Erie

Erie is Pennsylvania's fourth-largest city and the premier Great Lakes port city on the southern shore of Lake Erie, celebrated for Presque Isle State Park (with 7 miles of sandy freshwater beaches and stunning sunsets), the iconic Bicentennial Tower on Dobbins Landing, and as a major regional healthcare, plastics engineering, and advanced manufacturing hub (located between Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo). Erie has developed into a major higher education and healthcare hub in the northeastern US, home to top institutions: Gannon University (founded in 1925, comprehensive private Catholic university with over 4,700 students located in Downtown Erie, celebrated for the College of Engineering and Business with ABET-accredited Software Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Cybersecurity, and AACSB-accredited Dahlkemper School of Business, and the Morosky College of Health Professions offering Doctor of Physical Therapy DPT, Occupational Therapy, and Physician Assistant programs), alongside Penn State Behrend (the 854-acre undergraduate and research college of the world-famous Pennsylvania State University, top-ranked in Plastics Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering, and Business with the Knowledge Park tech incubator), Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM - the largest medical school in the United States by enrollment, offering accredited DO, PharmD, and DMD dental degrees), and Mercyhurst University. Degrees are taught 100% in English with prestigious US accreditations. International students benefit from exceptional clinical health training, plastics/robotics engineering research, extremely affordable cost of living, and direct US F-1 / I-20 Student Visa support with 3-year STEM OPT work extensions.

Tuition fees in Erie for international undergraduate students at Gannon University range between $36,800 and $38,900 per academic year for Engineering, Cybersecurity, Software Engineering, and Dahlkemper Business (with Gannon University awarding generous international merit scholarships such as the International Student Academic Award offering $15,000 to $23,000/year to qualified students, reducing net annual tuition to approx. $14,000–$22,000/year). At Penn State Behrend, undergraduate tuition ranges between $26,500 and $28,800 per year. Postgraduate Master's programs range between $16,000 and $24,500 per year. On-campus university residence halls (Gannon North Hall, Finegan, Wehrle / Penn State Behrend Senat Hall) cost between $650 and $1,150 per month (inclusive of meal plans and utilities), while off-campus student apartments in Downtown Erie and West 6th Street range from $480 to $850 per month. General monthly living expenses range between $700 and $1,150 (one of the most affordable cities in the Northeastern US).

International students require a US F-1 Student Visa. Upon academic admission and verification of financial documentation (bank statement certifying first-year tuition and living expenses minus scholarship awards), the Office of Global Admissions (Gannon University) issues the official Form I-20. The student pays the SEVIS I-901 fee, completes the DS-160 online visa application, and attends the F-1 visa interview at the US Embassy or Consulate. STEM graduates qualify for a 24-month OPT extension (total 36 months of US employment authorization).