Campus life exactly like the movies: football games, dorm culture, a club for everything and Americans who genuinely want to show you around. Everything is big, loud and weirdly welcoming.
Monthly budget
€1,100–2,200
Language
English
Best time
Fall semester runs late August to December, spring mid-January to May — fall gets you football season and Thanksgiving.
Bloomington is a leafy, limestone college town powered by Indiana University and its 45,000 students. Exchange life here is affordable, social and steeped in Big Ten tradition.
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Bloomington is the quintessential Midwestern college town: walkable, green and built around a beautiful limestone campus. Indiana University gives it a serious cultural scene, from a world-class music school to a proper art museum, while the cost of living stays low. It is welcoming, easy to navigate and a gentle landing for a first stint in the States.
Home to Indiana University, famous for its Jacobs music school, Kelley business school and Hoosier basketball.
Regularly named one of the best and most affordable college towns in the US.
Indianapolis and its airport are about an hour north.
The social calendar peaks with the Little 500, the student bike race that inspired the film Breaking Away, and roars again on basketball nights at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Kirkwood Avenue is the main artery of bars, cafes and late-night pizza. With a huge international student body, there is always a club night, culture fair or house party to fall into.
Watch or cheer the Little 500 bike races each April; it is the highlight of the year.
Kirkwood Avenue and Nick's English Hut are the go-to spots for a night out.
Join a club at the autumn involvement fair to build a circle fast.
Bloomington is genuinely cheap by American standards: budget roughly 1,000 to 1,600 dollars a month with shared rent. Housing costs a fraction of the coasts, and cheap eats on Fourth Street keep food bills down. A car is optional thanks to free campus buses.
Shared flats run about 450 to 700 dollars a month per person.
Fourth Street restaurants serve big, cheap international meals for 10 to 15 dollars.
Bloomington Transit and IU Campus Bus are free with your student ID.
Exchange students usually rent in the apartment complexes ringing campus or share houses in the walkable near-west and Elm Heights areas. Leases often run a full year, so look for sublets that match a single semester. Start the hunt early for the autumn rush.
Complexes like The Fields, Scholars Quarter and Smallwood Plaza are popular with students.
Elm Heights and the near-campus streets are lovely for house shares.
Post in the Studcasa Bloomington group for semester sublets and roommates.
Bloomington is compact and flat enough to walk or cycle, and the buses are free. Bloomington Transit covers the town while the IU Campus Bus loops around the university. For trips home or to the airport, GO Express runs to Indianapolis.
Bloomington Transit (BT) and IU Campus Bus are both free with your Crimson Card.
Grab a bike or use the Pace bikeshare for quicker cross-town trips.
GO Express Travel runs door-to-door vans to Indianapolis International Airport (IND).
Indiana University is a large public research university on a semester system, with particular strength in music, business, informatics and the humanities. You will mix big lecture courses with smaller discussion sections led by teaching assistants, and professors expect you at their office hours. The Wells Library is open long hours during term.
Sort your timetable early in the student portal; popular Kelley and Jacobs classes fill fast.
The Office of International Services runs orientation and social events for exchange students.
Almost every exchange student needs a visa, and which one depends on your programme and nationality. Most exchange students come on a J-1 exchange visitor visa (with a DS-2019 from your host university) or an F-1 student visa (with an I-20); your US university tells you which and issues the document. You then pay the SEVIS fee, complete the DS-160 form, and attend an in-person interview at a US embassy or consulate, so start the moment you're accepted, as interview waits can be long.
Budget for the SEVIS fee (around 220 dollars for J-1, 350 for F-1) plus the visa application fee, and note J-1 visas carry mandatory health insurance rules and sometimes a two-year home-residency requirement. Keep every document for border entry.
Most exchange students, J-1 (DS-2019) or F-1 (I-20) visa
Pay the SEVIS fee (~$220 J-1 / ~$350 F-1) before your interview
Complete DS-160 and attend an in-person consulate interview
J-1 requires compliant health insurance; check the two-year home-residency rule
Bloomington punches above its weight for food, thanks to Fourth Street, a single block packed with Tibetan, Turkish, Burmese and Korean restaurants. The Saturday farmers market is an institution, and the town has a strong arts streak with the Eskenazi art museum and the IU Cinema. Expect casual, affordable and international.
Work your way along Fourth Street; Anyetsang's Little Tibet and Anatolia are favourites.
Nick's English Hut is the classic student pub; try a game of Sink the Biz.
The Saturday farmers market at Showers Common runs spring through autumn.
Most students live within a mile or two of campus, choosing between lively near-campus streets and quieter residential pockets. Downtown around the courthouse square puts you near nightlife, while areas south and east trade buzz for calm and cheaper rent. The free buses keep everything connected.
Downtown and Kirkwood: steps from bars and cafes, the liveliest choice.
Elm Heights and Bryan Park: leafy, quiet and walkable to campus.
East side complexes: cheaper and modern, with frequent campus buses.
Bloomington sits in easy reach of Indiana's outdoors and a couple of proper cities. Brown County State Park delivers the best autumn colour in the state, while Indianapolis and Louisville make simple weekend trips. Carpooling with classmates opens up the most.
Brown County State Park and the village of Nashville are about 30 minutes east.
Indianapolis (1 hr) has museums, sport and a bigger nightlife scene.
Louisville, Kentucky is roughly two hours south for a change of state.
Lean into the college-town rhythm and you will love Bloomington. Get your bus pass and library card sorted early, plan around the football and basketball calendar, and do not underestimate the Midwestern winter. A bike will change how you experience the place.
Layer up for winter; January and February get genuinely cold and grey.
Buy basketball tickets early; Assembly Hall nights are a rite of passage.
Ask the Studcasa Bloomington group about the best-value complexes before signing a lease.
Guide last updated July 2026
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Student Reviews
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FAQ
Is Bloomington a good destination for an exchange?
Not enough students have graded Bloomington yet for an average to mean anything. The reviews already on this page are worth more than a number: they say where people lived, what it cost and what they would do differently.
Do I need a visa to study in Bloomington?
Everyone needs a visa: get accepted, receive your I-20 or DS-2019, pay the SEVIS fee, file the DS-160 online, then interview at a US embassy. Start 3-4 months early.
How do I meet other exchange students in Bloomington?
Join the Bloomington WhatsApp group. It is free and there is nothing to sign up for. It is where students arriving the same semester find flatmates, organise the first nights out and warn each other about the paperwork.
Where should I live in Bloomington?
That depends on your budget and how long a commute you will accept. Our Bloomington housing guide goes through the areas students chose, what they paid and what they wish they had known before signing.
How many students have reviewed Bloomington?
2 students who spent a semester in Bloomington left a review. They are written by students, not by us, and they are not filtered for being flattering.
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I took hard classes essentially in Finance like accouting for M&A, Money, banking and capital markets, Intermediate Corporate Finance, Audit and Venture……
6 sections rated
🏠 Housing4/5
Rent paid$2,000
What kind of place was it?
Classic Apartment
Where was it located?
On campus 15 minutes from Business School
Would you recommend it?
Nice cause you have roomates ( I was in a 4 bedroom appartment) but each of you has his own bedroom you have 2 in-house bathroom and a washer which saves a lot of time and is way cleaner than the floor shared bathrooms and toilets in the single dorms which are outside your bedroom. It is also really spacious to live in. Bad thing is that you can't open windows in any housing on campus.
🍻 Social Life4/5
What are some top bars, clubs, or events you recommend?
Lots of bars on Kirkwood and sports events (football, basketball...) and frat parties BUT you have to be 21 and it's really hard to get into bars and buy drinks if you are not.
🎓 Uni life at Indiana University4/5
Which classes do you recommend… or not?
I took hard classes essentially in Finance like accouting for M&A, Money, banking and capital markets, Intermediate Corporate Finance, Audit and Venture Capital. So, If you want to work and are really willing to do finance at a good level you should do the same combination which is really interconnected between these classes.
But if you want to enjoy a bit less of homework and easier class, which I would do if I had to restart, you should'nt take these classes but easier 100s and 200s classes.
Do you have some tips?
Campus amazing and really beautiful with a many cool infrastructres. Registration pretty long and complex when you want to go to the US so do it early and especially for your VISA. If you have the american dream and want to live like in these american movies you should go. But if you want to have more adventures maybe go to South America or Asia.
Also Bloomington is a small city so not much to do outside campus.
✈️ Travel4/5
Best trips to do?
New York really cheap for the flight, Chicago realy easy and fast, cheap for flight.
I went to Boston and friends went to Miami also.
🌆 Bloomington vibe2/5
What do you absolutely need to know to live your best life in Bloomington?
Nothing to do except bars in the city. Transport not really easy if you don' have a car you need o take buses. Campus is funnier.
💡 Other Tips
Try to meet other students and exchange and have a good group of friends directly when you arrive. Go to all the events you won't regret it and try to say yes often.
Diego
2025 • Fall
7.0/10
FromIeseg School of Management
ToIndiana University
MixedMiddle of the scale
As an exchange student at IU, the best option is to live in an on-campus dorm. But be careful when you apply, because you have to rank your preferences between……
6 sections rated
🏠 Housing4/5
Rent paid1400
What kind of place was it?
Student Residence
Where was it located?
15 minutes from bar, school and dining hall
Would you recommend it?
As an exchange student at IU, the best option is to live in an on-campus dorm. But be careful when you apply, because you have to rank your preferences between Economy, Standard, and Enhanced. Enhanced is very expensive, it’s the one they assigned me ($6,400 for 4 months…). So when you submit your preferences, avoid selecting Enhanced. Even if you put it as your last choice, they might still assign it to you, because they’re looking to make money. However, the dorms are clean but a bit old, and the mattress is not comfy at all.
🍻 Social Life4/5
What are some top bars, clubs, or events you recommend?
If you’re under 21, your social life can be difficult unless you manage to get into frat parties. When I was there, those parties were very hard to access, and several fraternities were suspended because there had been too many rape cases.
🎓 Uni life at Indiana University5/5
Which classes do you recommend… or not?
When you choose your classes, you can pick either difficult or easy ones. It depends on what you want to do during your exchange. In my case, I chose really easy classes and made sure to have them only on two weekdays (Monday and Wednesday), which gave me plenty of free time to do whatever I wanted!
Do you have some tips?
Campus is really cool, the life there is like in the movies. I really like that.
✈️ Travel5/5
Best trips to do?
I traveled to Chicago (twice), Indianapolis (not great), and Miami (amazing). Some of my friends went to New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, Nashville… If you have some money, you definitely should travel!
🌆 Bloomington vibe3/5
What do you absolutely need to know to live your best life in Bloomington?
Bloomington is a really small city, there is nothing to do unless some good bars and american fastfoods
💡 Other Tips
If you want to party a lot : don't go
If you want to study in one of the best business school of the world : go
I you want to discover the real US life : go
