Study abroad at Milwaukee

Milwaukee is Wisconsin's largest metropolis and a vibrant industrial innovation, freshwater technology, arts, and brewing capital situated along the southwestern shores of freshwater Lake Michigan, located just 90 minutes north of Downtown Chicago and O'Hare International Airport. Celebrated for the iconic Milwaukee Art Museum (featuring Santiago Calatrava's winged Quadracci Pavilion), the historic Third Ward arts and dining district, Lakefront parks and sailing, Summerfest (the world's largest music festival), and major Fortune 500 corporate powerhouses (Northwestern Mutual, Rockwell Automation, Harley-Davidson, Johnson Controls, and Milwaukee Tool). Milwaukee is a major American higher education hub, home to two premier research institutions: Marquette University (founded in 1881, premier private Catholic Jesuit doctoral research university ranked in the US Top 90 National Universities by US News & World Report with over 11,500 students on an urban campus in Downtown Milwaukee, renowned for the Opus College of Engineering, College of Business Administration, College of Nursing, and Marquette Law School), and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM - prestigious Carnegie R1 Tier One research university with over 23,000 students, home to the nation's only School of Freshwater Sciences, College of Engineering & Applied Science, and Lubar College of Business), alongside the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) and Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). Degrees are taught 100% in English with prestigious US accreditations. International students benefit from Milwaukee's affordable Midwest living costs, strong corporate co-op and internship connections, generous merit scholarships ($8,000 to $22,000/year), and direct US F-1 / I-20 Student Visa support with 3-year STEM OPT work extensions.

Tuition fees in Milwaukee for international undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM - Carnegie R1) range between $21,500 and $23,500 per academic year for Engineering, Computer Science, Freshwater Sciences, and Lubar Business (with UWM offering automatic International Student Merit Scholarships of $2,000 to $6,000/year). At the private Marquette University (Top 90 US News), undergraduate tuition is approx. $47,500 to $49,500/year (with Marquette awarding generous International Pere Marquette Awards discounting $12,000 to $25,000/year from tuition for qualified applicants, bringing net tuition to approx. $22,500–$35,000/year). Postgraduate Master's degrees range from $16,000 to $28,000 per year. Modern on-campus university residences (Marquette The Commons, Eckstein, Mashuda; UWM Cambridge Commons, RiverView, Sandburg Hall) cost between $700 and $1,200 per month (inclusive of meal plans, utilities, and high-speed Wi-Fi), while off-campus student apartments in East Side, Riverwest, and Downtown Milwaukee range from $550 to $950 per month. General monthly living expenses range between $750 and $1,250.

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 (Marquette OIE / UWM CIE) 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).