Yesterday, the exchange rate of RMB against USD was 6.1598 and it was the first time that the rate reach almost 6.16., hitting a new record high. In recent years, as the exchange rate for RMB is rising rapidly, one of the consequences is that more and more people are travelling abroad and spending money overseas. However due to rising college tuitions, it is still not that cheap to study abroad.

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With the appreciation of RMB, people will think that it is cheaper to travel abroad and study abroad than before. Is it the truth? Qingnan Li, who wishes to study abroad like his elder brother, found out that it is not cheap to study abroad after he did some research.

The exchange rate of RMB against USD was 6.1598, slightly 9 basic points higher than last business day, and it was the first time hitting 6.16, published by China Foreign Exchange Trade Center. Since this year, the appreciation of RMB is on the rise and the exchange rate against USD gained 1299 basic points which is nearly 2% increase.

The tuition for a private university in the United States was $12,000-$35,000 per year and the tuition for graduate school was a little higher in 2008, back to the times when Qingnan Li's elder brother went abroad. The total of living expenses and other fees were between $6750 and $14600 per year. At that time, the total fees needed for a four-year undergraduate school was between ￥547，500 and ￥1，302，300 RMB. The total fees needed for a two-year graduate school was between ￥390，600 and ￥724，200RMB back then.

For now, is it cheaper to study abroad while RMB is gaining appreciation? Not really. "The tuition is increasing as well as living expenses," an agent told Qingnan.

The newest data shows that the tuition for a private college or university is in the range of $25,000 to $45,000 per year, and all the other fees needed is between $7,250 and $24,500 per year. If we calculate the fees by current exchange rate, Qingnan will spend at least 600,000RMB to finish his bachelor's degree and additional 387,000RMB to 834,000RMB to finish his Master's, which is almost the same compared to five years before.

Due to the appreciation of RMB, travelling abroad and shopping overseas are very popular nowadays. According to the data collected by National Tourism Administration, the number of Chinese people travelling overseas rose from 10 million to 83 million and travel consumption grow nearly 8 times from 2000 to 2012. In the year 2012, more than 80 million travelled abroad.

It's summer now and it's the season to travel abroad. The reporter's found out from many travel agencies that July and August are the hottest seasons for travelling abroad.

Compared to travelling abroad, there are less foreign people travelling to China these days. The newest data showed that from January to April this year, the number of foreign people coming to China was 42.89millioin, 2.74% smaller than that of last year. Some insiders think that it is because of currency rate and it is more expensive to travel to China and they expect less foreign travellers come to China.