Study abroad programs face scrutiny in tough times
Think things are expensive in the United States? Just think about how much youÂ’d be paying in England or France.
Study abroad programs are an integral part of many college and university experiences. As global perspectives become an essential skill to working in any field or industry, more students seek to broaden their horizons by taking classes in other countries.
However, the slowing economy and weakening dollar is causing some students and professors at local universities to reassess activities included in study abroad trips. Some programs may be pared down in the future, and there is the chance that some trips may be indefinitely postponed in the face of rising costs.
Many popular destinations, like London, have been relatively expensive for many years. Airfare is expensive, and exchange rates have always made travelers assess their budgets carefully. The exchange rate is even more of a problem right now; for example, the dollar to British pound rate is about 1.98, compared to 1.86 in June 2007 and 1.65 about 10 years ago, according to GoCurrency.com and its currency rates from Reuters.
Take into account that other countries in the world also are feeling the effects of rising oil prices and its ripple effects through the economy, and money isnÂ’t going as far as it used to.
“It’s definitely having an effect on whether or not students go and also probably on where students go,” said Courtney Bauman at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Bauman, director of study abroad in the Office of International Education, said so far, the number of students choosing to go abroad hasnÂ’t been dramatically affected. From the fall of 2006 through the summer of 2007, 210 students went to study abroad; from the fall of 2007 through the end of this summer, 193 students are traveling and learning at the same time, she said.
For students at UT-Arlington, there are plenty of financial aid options to help defray the costs of tuition and program participation, and there are various scholarships available, both from the university and outside funds, she said.
“Their main obstacle, even before the dollar weakening, was and is financial,” Bauman said.
By giving students a clear estimate of how much a program will cost and letting them explore options, such as other countries with more favorable exchange rates and shorter programs, Bauman said her office is dedicated to ensuring as many students as possible get the opportunity to travel abroad. She said many relatively new programs, such as those in Asia, are getting more attention from students, and it could be partially due to their cost-effectiveness as well as rising popularity and relevance.
Students at Texas Christian University also are taking more of an interest in new study abroad opportunities in regions like Latin America and Asia, said Tracy Williams, associate director of the Center for International Studies. She said the study abroad programs have been booming since about 2000, when an average of about 20 students would study abroad each semester. Now, about 60 students each semester choose to study abroad, and 280 students are going abroad this summer through various programs that are a few weeks long.
“We’ve seen growth consistently over the past decade, and it seems like at this stage, the economy is not affecting the study abroad programs,” Williams said.
Just as at UT-Arlington, there are plenty of options for financial aid, and Williams said for summer programs, there is a blanket 25 percent subsidy for every single student who participates. However, even with financial aid, students and professors often are having to cut down on the number of field trips or activities held while abroad, Williams and Bauman said.
Texas Wesleyan University only offers short study abroad trips for its students, ranging from about 10 days to 14 days, but about 75 percent of each studentÂ’s total costs are subsidized through tuition payments, said Carlos Martinez, dean of education at the university. Without the subsidies, there would be no student study abroad programs, he said, because many of the students are nontraditional and canÂ’t afford to spend thousands of dollars on a travel opportunity.
Each summer, TWU offers three or four short study abroad programs, Martinez said, and students usually end up paying less than $1,000 for a trip. Many of the groups go to countries like Peru, Croatia and Chile, where the university has local contacts, and airfare is the biggest expense, he said.
“It usually takes us a year to plan one 10-day to 12-day trip; now, we’re going to hold off until mid-September to see what gas prices do to airfare,” Martinez said.
The true effects of the economic slowdown on study abroad programs may not show up until next year, since almost all of the programs require administrators and students to plan for trips many months in advance. At UTA and TCU, there have been small numbers of students who decide at the last minute they canÂ’t financially afford to take the planned trip abroad. Martinez said at TWU, if there isnÂ’t enough interest in a specific program, then it would just have to be cancelled because itÂ’s not worth the cost.
For the moment, students with some financial aid, flexibility on destinations and foresight can find plenty of opportunities to study abroad, and administrators will continue to emphasize the learning that can be done while in another country.
“I think that there is a growing interest in studying abroad and internationalizing college campuses, and hopefully that movement and interest will be a greater in strength than the weakening dollar,” Bauman said.
Contact Bassett at ebassett@bizpress.net
