Study abroad cheaper and safer

• I attended law school in both the United States and Belgium.
• In Europe, my classes were more collaborative and significantly cheaper.
• I also felt safer while studying abroad in Europe.

Thanks to my dual American-Italian citizenship, I attended both American and European law schools. One of the perks of Italian citizenship is that you can study anywhere in the European Union, so I was able to study and live in Belgium without any problems.

I earned my law degree from the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2011 and my Master of Laws in International Commercial Law from Ghent University in Belgium in 2023.

Looking back on my experience, I don’t think I would choose to study law in the United States if I could go back.

Education costs are more reasonable in Europe

One year of tuition at Ghent University cost approximately $6,400, adjusted for the current euro-to-dollar exchange rate. In contrast, her one year of tuition at UNLV currently costs him $28,000 for a Nevada resident and a whopping $40,900 for a non-Nevada resident. In 2011, $20,000 for residents and $33,400 for non-residents.

I don’t believe that the quality of education I received in the United States was worth four times as much as the education I received in Belgium.

Like many American students, I took out huge student loans to cover the exorbitant costs of my education. In Belgium, I was able to cover my tuition fees through smart savings.

Student loans are especially bad in the United States because they stick with students for life. Belgian students were shocked when I explained the concept of student loan debt. When I think about this cruelty at the heart of American life, I wish I had never attended an American law school.

In Europe, cooperation was valued; in America, competition was valued.

From the first day I entered the “sacred” halls of an American law school, a seed of anxiety was planted within me. From the first day of school, I realized that future lawyers competed for grades and aspired to be published in the school’s law magazine. Anything less than perfect is considered a total failure.

Most classes in the United States are structured so that the professor lectures to students for a set period of time, with scheduled interruptions to ask random questions to students who are “on call.” Except in rare cases, American students are not required to collaborate to solve problems.

Group work is emphasized in Belgium, and I was able to deepen my bonds with my colleagues through meaningful work. Similarly, Belgian grades were more evenly distributed on a scale of 1 to 20. Most Belgian students considered a score of 15 out of 20 to be a great success.

I felt safer at a European university.

I went to law school in the wake of the deadly Virginia Tech massacre. Endless mass shootings That continued. While studying at UNLV, the fear that I might become just another statistic in this tragic American reality was always in the back of my mind. This was not without reason. In December 2023, I was horrified. UNLV experienced a shooting. It was in the same building where I took classes when I was an undergraduate.

I never felt the same fear when I went to school in Belgium. Ghent University’s law school is located in the city center, surrounded by amazingly preserved medieval architecture. My daily routine was a 20-minute walk from my apartment to class, something I could never do at UNLV, which was a car-centric urban nightmare. My daily walk was a time of self-reflection that I cherish. I never thought I would be the victim of a mass shooting in Ghent.

I recognize that Europe is not immune to gun violence either. However, there are fewer mass shootings in Europe than in the United States, so I didn’t feel scared while studying abroad in Belgium.

My little daughter also has dual Italian and American citizenship. I won’t let her make the same mistakes I did. When my daughter asks me whether she should go to college in America or Europe, I don’t hesitate to say, “Studying in Europe.”