In a 30 lakh budget, how much goes to living costs rather than tuition?

Your Rs. 30 lakh will split differently depending on where you study, but as a general rule roughly a third to two fifths goes to living costs while the rest covers tuition, except in countries with free or near free public tuition where that ratio reverses sharply.

How The Split Varies By Country

Fixed Living Cost Drivers To Plan For

• Mandatory security deposits, such as the German blocked account or the Canadian GIC, lock up a large chunk of your budget upfront
• Rent typically consumes about half of your monthly living budget, so shared housing changes this ratio significantly
• Compulsory health insurance and visa surcharges add Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh a year on top of rent and food

My Advice

Work out your target country's actual living to tuition ratio before you finalize your Rs. 30 lakh plan, since a Germany bound student should expect the opposite split from a UK or Canada bound one, and budgeting on the wrong ratio is the fastest way to run short.