Economical challenges of Erasmus students. How much does it cost a student to live in Cuenca?

Every year around 140 thousand students come to Spain from all over the world to study. They are different in many ways- not only because of the country their from or the language they speak, they have different opportunities and economical situation. The main question is if students can affort living in Spain from scholarship they get from Erasmus+ program.

More than 100 students are coming for Cuenca to study in the new semester at UCLM University. University welcomes students from Italy, France, and Poland, but also students from outside Europe who came a long way to have the possibility to experience a new country and its advantages; these are students from Mexico, Colombia, Thailand.

Difference in amount of scholarship

The program does not provide the same amount of scholarship money for every student. The
difference in the scholarship is varies between countries and universities. Two students who are going to the same host university can get different scholarships, which are dependent on the social conditions of the student’s family or on scientific achievements. Depend on living expenses of the country that students are going to the amount of money is different. The avarage amount that students get monthly for living expenses in Spain is 600- 700 euros. But is enough to have a comfortable life in Cuenca?

Accomodation in Cuenca

The first factor that needs to be taken into account is accomodation. For three bedroom apartment you have to pay around 700-1000 euros for rent. It comes without the electric bill and payment for water and heating. The most popular option is renting them with other Erasmus, so the expenses would be divided. But more affordable option is living in a university dorm. One room costs around 200 euros and in Cuenca there are 3 residentions to choose from.

With renting an accomodation you can pay 200 euros more and have meals made for you. But if students won’t decide on this options they could make meals for themselfes. Avarage Spaniard spend on grocieries around 200-300 euros so the expanses for the room with meals and for the residency room and grocieries are simmilar.

Cost of travel

Besides the amount of tuition that students get for living expenses they also get money to travel to their destination. The amount of money which a student gets is dependent on the distance to the host university. Students have to choose for themselves how they would like to travel. To get more money, a student can choose the green travel option, which means that, they get more money for the trip, but he or she has to cover most of the journey by land, which takes more time.

The expenses of each students are different. Because of their background, different coultures and choices they make the amount of money spent every month may vary.But from the general statistics it seems that the money that students receive from Erasmus+ is enough for necessary expenses. What is important is that they are left with part of the subsidy, which they can use to explore and enjoy the charms of Spain.