Study abroad at Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the world's entertainment, media, creative, and technological super-metropolis in Southern California along the Pacific coast (the 2nd largest metropolitan economy in the United States and home to Hollywood, Silicon Beach, and the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympic Games). Celebrated for Santa Monica and Venice beaches, Griffith Observatory, Beverly Hills, Getty Center, and massive economic clusters in cinema, artificial intelligence, aerospace (SpaceX, NASA JPL, Northrop Grumman), video game development (Riot Games, Activision Blizzard), biotechnology, and international trade (Port of Los Angeles). Los Angeles is home to an extraordinary concentration of the world's most elite universities: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA - founded in 1919, ranked the #1 Public University in the United States by US News & World Report and #29 globally in the QS World University Rankings with 47,000+ students on a magnificent 419-acre campus in Westwood, boasting 16 Nobel laureates), University of Southern California (USC - premier private research university ranked #27 in the US with 49,000+ students, renowned for the USC School of Cinematic Arts #1 in the world, Viterbi School of Engineering, and Marshall School of Business), California Institute of Technology (Caltech in nearby Pasadena - #15 World QS), Loyola Marymount University (LMU), California State University Los Angeles (Cal State LA), Pepperdine University, and Occidental College. Degrees are taught 100% in English with prestigious US accreditations. International students benefit from unrivaled networking with Hollywood studios, Silicon Beach tech giants, Fortune 500 headquarters, generous merit scholarships, and direct US F-1 / I-20 Student Visa support with 3-year STEM OPT work extensions.

Tuition fees in Los Angeles for international undergraduate students at UCLA range between $46,500 and $49,500 per academic year (out-of-state tuition and fees for Computer Science, Engineering, Business Economics, and Film), while at private universities like USC, tuition is approx. $66,000/year (with USC and private institutions awarding highly generous international merit scholarships such as the USC Trustee and Presidential Scholarships covering 50% to 100% of tuition to top applicants). At California State University Los Angeles (Cal State LA), international undergraduate tuition is approx. $17,500 to $19,500/year. Postgraduate Master's degrees range from $22,000 to $45,000 per year. Modern on-campus university residences (UCLA Olympic Hall, Centennial Hall, Dykstra; USC Village Residential Colleges) cost between $900 and $1,650 per month (inclusive of meal plans, utilities, and high-speed Wi-Fi), while off-campus student apartments in Westwood, University Park, Koreatown, and Culver City range from $850 to $1,550 per month for shared rooms and $1,500 to $2,500 for private studios. General monthly living expenses range between $1,100 and $1,900.

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 International Student Office (UCLA Dashew Center / USC OIS) 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).