Discover Your Study Abroad Course Subject List with These Course Finders
One of the starting points of studying abroad is to pinpoint the right course subject list to begin your application. You might already have a pretty firm idea of what you want to study – the subject, the country, and so on. Finding the exact right fit can involve looking into the finer details – tuition fee ranges, scholarship opportunities, intake options, and so on.
Considering the volume of information out there, you might be on the lookout for the right tips, tools, and resources to find your right-fit program. This is our expert guide to simplify your search with the best tools and resources you can access with ease!
What to Look for in Your Program to Study Abroad
Before starting your search, the first question you must tackle is ‘What exactly am I looking for?’. You can start narrowing your options down by:
• Tuition Fees
• Minimum Eligibility Criteria, e.g., grade boundaries, IELTS band scores
• Scholarship availability
• Intake availability
• Application deadlines
• Destination
• Internship options
• Post-study opportunities
Once you have a good idea of your requirements for your course subject list, you can kickstart the process! There are a couple of options to guide your research, including Gradstar’s own course finder, GRADSearch. Below, we break down the pros and cons of course match engines to help you get going!
Country-Specific Course Finders
Course search engines are handy tools that aggregates the huge volume of information available across individual university pages into one place. The best course finders feature filters that let you fine-tune your research and narrow your list of university courses down to options best matching your needs! Here are a couple of excellent options to consider to get your research going:
UCAS
This is the central application portal through which prospective undergraduate students can apply to study in the UK. You will be able to discover your program opportunities across a series of intuitive filters and shortlist your options across all UK universities. Through UCAS, you can apply to up to five universities for up to three program areas!
Pros of UCAS:
• Comprehensive database of all bachelor’s degree programs across all UK universities
• Filters that support narrowing down your program selection by:
o Course type
o Course year
o Start month
o Degree type
o Course vacancies
o University or college
o Subject
o Entry requirements
o Where in the UK you want to study
• A single platform through which you can build a common application to apply to multiple universities
• Comprehensive overviews of each course
Cons of UCAS:
• Exclusive to the UK – you will have to build a separate course subject list for other countries you might be considering
• While you can also apply for postgraduate programs through UCAS, UK universities typically accept postgraduate applications directly
• The entry requirements filter does not calculate international student qualifications. You have to convert your qualifications to UCAS tariff points
Study Australia
Study Australia is the complete Australian government resource online for international students considering studying abroad here. Among a variety of resources covering all aspects of international student life, Study Australia also has its own complete course matcher. You can narrow your searches down by programs, providers, and scholarships, as well as on-campus versus online courses.
To start a search, you also need to specify your field of study, the study level, and the region in Australia you are targeting.
Pros of Study Australia’s Course Search
• You can narrow down your course subject list across all study levels, subjects, and universities
• Intuitive filter for tuition fee ranges
• Option to search by scholarship availability
• Overview of key information, including program duration and entry requirements, for each program
Cons of Study Australia’s Course Search
• You will still need to research programs from other destinations separately
• Not a central application platform – you will have to apply individually to each university
EduCanada
Like Study Australia, EduCanada is the Canadian government’s complete digital resource for international students. This includes EduCanada’s very own course search, which draws its data from the Canadian Post-Secondary Institution Collection (CPIC) database. You can start narrowing your course subject list down by specifying your subject category, the language of study, degree level, and location in Canada you are targeting. You can sort your results by the program name, school name, and city name.
Pros of the EduCanada Course Search
• A comprehensive database of the country’s program options for international students
• You can select university program options and compare costs, including tuition and living costs
Cons of the EduCanada Course Search
• You can’t overview program details for the list of university courses you generate through your searches
• You cannot see program details when selecting your options for cost comparison
• As this is not an application platform, you have to individually research and apply to each program separately
• The search features are not very user-friendly
• You can only view results for Canada – you will have to research separately for other destinations
Comprehensive Multi-Destination Course Finders
GRADSearch
So far, we have only been looking at course search options that are destination-specific. To start your search with all the available options across multiple destinations, give GRADSearch – Gradstar Global Education’s complete course finder – a spin! This engine runs on a continuously updating database of more than 130,000 programs from over 3,200 universities. These span almost 30 destinations, including key study abroad destinations like the UK and Australia.
You can start your search by typing in the subject keyword for the field you want to study. To narrow the course subject list down, you can filter your options by degree type, degree level, and destination.
This shortlists programs across the GRADSearch database for you to overview. For each program, you can preview key information like its tuition fees, duration, and start dates. You can also look into other programs the university offers, as well as available scholarships at that university!
Once you are ready to learn more about a particular program, you can start an enquiry with a Gradstar Student Success Consultant. These consultants work with you one-on-one to better understand your profile, recommend additional programs and options that best match your academic background and goals, and support you throughout each step of your application!
StudyPortals
Study Portals, with its individual platforms for bachelor’s, master’s, PhD programs, short courses, and so on, is another option to consider. Study Portals’ database spans multiple destinations and a massive university database. You can run keyword searches for the programs you are considering, applying a range of filters to narrow your search.
Search results preview key information about the program, including course duration, tuition fees, and mode of delivery. You can compare programs and add those you are considering to a shortlist. From here, you can jump off to the university’s webpage for each program to learn more.
Although a great starting point for your research, you might run into the issue of managing multiple touchpoints as you explore each university individually. If you are looking for in-depth and one-on-one support through your applications, you will have to reach out to a student success consultant separately.
Edvoy
The Edvoy platform hosts its own course search engine, with a database of more than 63,000 courses from almost 300 universities. The engine covers 15 destinations in total, with filters to help you finetune your search by degree type, duration, study level, etc.
After discovering a program and previewing its highlights and requirements, you can sign up to start the application process through Edvoy. In comparison to GRADSearch and Study Portals, however, Edvoy’s database is relatively smaller.
Rounding Up
Considering the sheer volume of information out there covering international education options, there is no single solution to finding the right fit for you. Tools such as UCAS and Study Australia, for example, while incredibly comprehensive, have limits to their applicability. Instead, we believe that access to the right tools in the hands of the right experts empowers students to discover the right higher education opportunities. With a tool like GRADSearch, you access not just a comprehensive course subject list matching your requirements. You can also easily transition into a conversation with a real-life expert to help you co-design your application with confidence, every step of the way.