Scholarships and fees
UWC is committed to making a UWC experience affordable to those who are selected, and thanks to generous donors, substantial financial aid is available.
For U.S. citizens who become Davis Scholars, an automatic merit award of $25,000 per year is applied toward the cost of attendance regardless of which UWC you attend. These scholarships are limited and competitive; 25 places are reserved for students to attend UWC-USA, and usually two scholarship places are reserved for US students at each of the other campuses.
The cost of attendance at each school varies considerably, ranging from just under $25,000 to a little over $65,000 per year, depending on economies, exchange rates, and government policies related to funding in different countries.
For U.S. Davis Scholars, those costs are reduced by $25,000 per year, and to cover any balance, students are eligible to apply for need-based aid via School and Student Services, an organization that calculates family contributions by examining personal assets, incomes, and tax histories. All UWCs work collaboratively with U.S. families to award as much need-based aid as possible. At UWC we believe every family should pay what they can, but no family should pay what they cannot.
Thanks to our donors as well as our advancement efforts, the cost of attendance at UWC-USA has been greatly subsidized. For the cohort of students that will enter UWC-USA in the fall of 2026, the fee is $56,900 per year, and includes tuition, room and board, snacks, activities fees, IB exams, textbooks, most local transportation, and most wilderness and other field trips. Additional costs would be laptops, a small carbon offset fee, a mailbox fee, and transportation to New Mexico–by the way, we’ll meet you at the airport and bring you to campus if you fly here. Most U.S. students are covered already under their parents’ health insurance, and other insurance options in New Mexico also exist. U.S. citizens who choose to attend
UWC-USA also do not need to apply for a visa or pay visa fees.
“The striking feature of the United World Colleges is that they embrace the entire world across all divides of race, history, culture, wealth, religion, economic status and political belief.”
— Nelson Mandela, former UWC President