Students think twice about study overseas

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Amanda Smay, an English major at a Pennsylvania college, longed to go to London next month with a study abroad program.

Then the sticker shock set in. The 10-day trip would cost about $2,800, or 75 percent more than two years ago. The Penn State-Altoona sophomore is sitting this one out, along with a few of her classmates, after the program was canceled because not enough students signed up.

“Most of the people I talked to couldn’t afford it,” Smay said. “I couldn’t afford it. I’m just putting money aside now and hopefully I’ll go my senior year.”

The weak dollar, a sluggish economy and a tougher time getting some types of student loans are making it moe difficult for some college students to study or travel abroad this summer.

Study abroad programs have set records in recent years, with more than 223,000 students participating during the 2005-06 academic year, according to the latest annual survey by the New York-based Institute of International Education. Most universities expect overall participation to keep rising, but that growth could be limited within some programs by the struggling dollar and other economic factors.

At Eastern Washington University, the rising costs coincide with a new push to get more students into international programs. Steve Schwalbe was made the school’s full-time study-abroad manager in January and has been promoting EWU’s international programs around campus.

He said that’s likely part of the reason that EWU’s participation rates for its upcoming summer programs in France and Spain are holding about steady from past years at roughly 30 students. Still, he said, increased costs are affecting students’ decisions.

“Europe is now pretty expensive, and Europe is the No. 1 destination for American students studying abroad,” he said. “It’s causing students to think twice.”

At Gonzaga University, participation in summer programs has remained steady at about 124, said Wanda Reynolds, director of the school’s study abroad program. GU has an annual summer term in Florence, Italy, as well as programs in Mexico and Africa.

Reynolds said that while interest in study abroad has remained strong, students and families are concerned about the cost. Meals, entertainment and other living expenses in Europe are more expensive across the board.

“Their main increase is really when they get over there and the spending money they’ll need,” she said.

The rising costs come at a time when getting international experience is more valuable than ever for students, officials say. Schwalbe said EWU wants to dramatically increase the number of students who study abroad; about 200 participate in one of the school’s programs, and EWU’s goal is to increase that fivefold.

Even with higher costs, Schwalbe said, gaining experience in another language and culture is worth it.

For students, “now is the time,” he said. “It’s not going to get easier or cheaper in the future.”

Around the country, universities with large study abroad programs are making changes to keep specific destinations within budget. Some smaller programs, however, are struggling to find enough students to make the trips feasible even after adjusting to cut costs.

More students appear to be opting for shorter programs of eight weeks or less, at least partly for financial reasons. More students are picking less expensive destinations such as Mexico, Costa Rica and China instead of Western Europe.

“Part of that interest in other destinations is for career-related reasons,” said Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the Institute of International Education. “But also, these places are less expensive to live.”

The dollar is particularly weak against the euro, the currency in 15 European nations including the popular study abroad destinations of Italy, Spain and France. The euro reached a record of more than $1.60 earlier this month before easing back to about $1.55 last week. Last year at this time it traded at about $1.36.

Colleen Whately, a Central Michigan University student, wanted to study abroad this school year in Italy. Then she discovered that a four-month program in the Czech Republic would cost her about half as much. Prague was in, Rome was out — and Whately figures she saved about $6,000 on the four-month program that ended in December.

Her advice: Budget and scout locations carefully to get the most bang for the weakened buck.

“It doesn’t make that much difference what country it is,” Whately said. “If you have to change your plans around a little, it’s still a valuable experience.”

The typical summer, four- to five-week European study abroad program offered through Michigan State University will range from $3,000 to $4,000. That’s up $300 to $500 from last year, an increase of about 10 percent.

Michigan State has one of the nation’s largest study abroad programs with more than 3,000 students participating in 2007-08. Overall numbers could continue to climb. But the university has had 136 students drop planned study abroad trips in the past month, compared to 20 in the same period last year. A third of them said finances were the main reason.

“It’s not all money and it’s not all the euro,” said Kathleen Fairfax, MSU’s study abroad director. “But that’s part of it.”

The struggling domestic U.S. economy is another factor. Students face higher bills for tuition, food and gasoline. And the credit crunch that first hit the nation’s housing market has filtered down to some types of loan programs that students might use to help finance an overseas study program.

On the flip side, it can be a good time financially for international students to head to the United States

Foreign student enrollment at U.S. colleges, universities and other academic programs grew 3 percent — to nearly 583,000 students — during the 2006-07 school year from the prior year, according to IIE.

Most are full-time, with many coming from India, China and South Korea. Relatively few are here for short-term study programs.

Gabriele Knieps, deputy head for the North America program of the German Academic Exchange Service, said she is not aware of a direct link between the strength of the euro and more German students wanting to study in the U.S. But the exchange rate makes life easier for those who do.

Frank Wilker, a doctoral student of American Studies at Free University in Berlin, just returned from a seven-week stint at the University of California, Berkeley, where he did research for his thesis on cultural perceptions of the Middle Passage, the transport of slaves from Africa to the New World. He said the strong euro did not influence his decision to go to the U.S., but was a welcome financial relief.

“Every time I withdrew the same amount of dollars from my account, less euros were deducted,” Wilker said. “During past stays there, I didn’t have a lot of money to spend, especially since the Bay Area is so expensive. But this time it was very nice, I could invite my girlfriend for dinner several times and we also went to the movies.”