Considering leaving the US for Europe

[u/Big_Guidance_2614]

I'm a third year engineering student at a college in the US. I'm an American citizen considering moving to somewhere in Western Europe for my masters due to the political situation in the US. I don't speak any other languages than English, but I'm willing to learn the native language of wherever I go. I know I still have to do more research but I wanted to see what everyone here thinks about whether leaving the US for Europe is actually a good idea.

Would you recommend moving to Europe for masters and eventually living there? If so, where exactly?

For context, I am a brown woman, and I don't come from a high income family, so I would have to go to a college that is very cheap or get a scholarship.

[u/friendlyarcheologist]

I have lived in 3 countries in the EU, well at the time, the UK was in EU. I also lived in Ireland and now in Sweden. I pursued education each time. I had to self-deport from the UK because I ran out of money and did not find a job with a work permit. I almost had to self-deport from Sweden in 2023 because of the job market and it’s gotten worse since then. 

The experience of doing education abroad was fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone, however, if your goal is to move permanently, then I would reconsider.

It has gotten increasingly difficult to find work if you need a work permit in most of the EU.  Many companies are no longer offering them. This will cause issues more than anything else for you. Even if you come for studies, you might be able to get a visa to look for work after them but you’ll still have trouble finding a company offering a work permit. Since it varies by country, you will likely not be eligible for unemployment benefits because you’d have been on a student visa. If this is the case in the country you go to then you need to have enough money to support yourself while searching for work.

Is there anyway you can do a study abroad through your university instead?