What’s the general situation with respect to travel abroad, whether for academics or athletics? Does it differ with respect to private/public schools? My rising senior is VERY interested in traveling while at college, so we’ve been hearing a lot about it. I’m just trying to understand if all of these opportunities that the schools are so proud of are only accessible if the family can afford lots of extra costs.
Thanks!
Some schools that run their own programs do not charge much extra, apply base costs from your tuition/RB. (Ie,we paid TRB that semester.) This was the case for one of mine, they only charged for what amounted to the true extras, travel and some side trips. The other went on a short term program, led by her prof, that had a full list price (but doable, a student package with side trips, but without frills.)
Both were given additional finaid for the addl costs over TRB, part in loan and part grant. Not the entire price, but some schools will, depending on the student’s financial situation. Same where DH taught and took kids abroad.
It’s different when you use an outside abroad program. We would have paid a place-holder fee to the college, plus tuition/RB at the other institution. Our fee to the home college would have been low, maybe 6k (and I forget the details, but some FA was applied to that.) My friend’s D’s school charged about 16k. So yes, you want to clarify.
My daughters, who attended two different private colleges, did study abroad programs that were sponsored by an outside organization (SIT). Both daughters had good financial aid packages throughout college. The schools treated the study-abroad term the same as an on-campus term. That is, my daughters got the same FA they would have received if on campus and we paid the same amount to the school as we would have if they had been on campus. There were additional costs that we paid: airfare and vaccinations (one daughter went to an African country, the other to a country in southeast Asia).
RR, who paid SIT, the college? If so, OP, this does exist for some schools where there is a working relationship between them and the outside organization.
In our case, D1 did 2 trips, both run by her college (a short term and a semester.) If she had done the extra independent semester (she changed her mind,) we would have paid that program, plus the college’s one semester place-holder fee. The college was ready to grant her some FA toward their own fee, but nothing toward the outside program.
I have to admit, even with the traveling mine did, the overall “how it can work” at different schools is confusing.
Are you talking about a study abroad program? Or are you talking about traveling abroad in general?
Some study abroad programs include airfare in the cost of the program. Others don’t and you have to make your own travel plans.
Also, if your kiddo does a study abroad and also wants to do additional travel while abroad, the college will not lay for that.
My kids’ college, Cornell, allowed kids to pay whatever the rate study abroad school charged plus a surcharge. When our kids studied abroad (Australia & UK), those school’s tuitions were a lot less than what Cornell charged. Even with Cornell’s surcharge (few thousand) our costs were a lot less than what we were paying at Cornell. Our kids used the saving for travel. I know not every college operates that way.
The UC system has a study abroad program where tuition, room, and board are all covered by your normal school fees. So it’s financially no different from a regular quarter on campus. The student is responsible for getting themselves there (i.e. a plane ticket and a cab ride) and whatever sightseeing money they’ll need. My D is planning on one program that includes both London and Paris during a single quarter in her sophomore year.
“Extra costs” depend on where your student travels. Some destinations of study abroad programs are extremely central to traveling all over the European continent within a decent time frame and with ready companions
That translates into “cheap” airline tix, hotels, train tix. It’s hard to pass on the opportunity for that travel because frankly it’ll probably never be so cheap nor convenient again.
My D spent two semesters abroad, fall of sophomore year and fall of senior year. They were different programs. Each time all she had to pay was airfare. She already had a valid passport for the first one, I think she had to renew it for the second one, though we would have done that anyway, even if she was not doing the study abroad. There were no extra shots required.
Tulane charged the same tuition, there were no surcharges, and all financial aid applied. I think that Tulane may have waived some of the fees (like activity, health clinic, etc) because she was not on campus to use them. I can not remember that for sure, it just seems like her FA stretched further.
Thanks so much, everyone. I’m glad to hear it doesn’t automatically require a huge additional outlay of cash. Paying for college at all is going to strap us as it is. And since traveling in some way, whatever way, is super important to her it’s good to hear it’s not completely out of the question before we even begin.
I have the sense that many colleges and universities are pushing study abroad, so it’s likely you’ll be able to easily find information about programs on schools’ web sites. Studying abroad was a good experience for my daughters and I’m glad they were able to do it. I encouraged them to do programs not in Europe because it seems they would be more likely to travel independently to Europe at some point. (Not that I don’t like Europe; I love it! But if one has the chance to go with a group to a place where traveling solo might be difficult, especially for a young woman, the opportunity seems good.)
It differed wildly depending on the school, and the program. Totally agree, that it is worth going some place that is not Europe. S went to a school that was cheaper than his out of state tuition, and ended up with two separate semesters. My Ds LAC kept the fees about the same, and there were a few special study abroad grants. However, if your offspring do work study for their spending money, that will not happen in the study abroad year.
Right about the work-study thing. When I had the chance to study abroad in school, I couldn’t take advantage of it because I needed my on-campus job for financial aid. That was a long time ago and a lot has changed; my daughter is also a lot more determined than I was to travel abroad.
The school she’s looking at most seriously sends almost 95% of its students abroad so I have to think financial aid is part of the picture. That said, it’s an expensive school so I don’t want to make any assumptions. (Of course we’ll be discussing it with them but both the FA and Admissions offices seemed to be on vacation this week.)
My daughters both had work study but we made up those amounts (which they used for living expenses, not tuition or room and board) when they were in the study abroad programs. I’m pretty sure the (recommended) amounts they took along for extra spending were less than they would have earned in work study, but I’m not sure. I don’t want to minimize the additional costs for air fare and vaccinations. The flights to and from southeast Asia were especially pricey, as were the rabies vaccinations.
It differs a ton by school or even program. In some cases, it would cost more (potentially a lot more). In some cases, it would cost less (potentially a lot less). However, many schools have cost info for their study-abroad programs on the internet that isn’t hard to find.
Yes, check each school’s website for specific information about how study abroad costs are handled. D wants to study abroad and I started looking more specifically t the schools she is considering. One covers it like a regular semester on campus. One has an $8000 surcharge. One only allows you to use your financial aid up to your EFC (so a kid on a large merit scholarship could incur large unexpected costs for study abroad). Our state schools only let you use your financial aid/scholarships toward certain programs which might limit options. Another school will even pay for the student’s passport if needed. It really varies. At minimum you’ll likely be paying for airfare.
Thanks for the info. I do see that it varies immensely. Wow, just one more thing to consider when looking at schools. What a maze this is!!!
Our D did a January term in Ecuador. Each J-term abroad program had a list cost that was known the previous spring when applications were due. It was not included in the overall tuition cost but at least board costs were pro-rated to reflect the time off campus. Her program was a single J-term class for credit with a 24 student cap. It was run by an outside group based in the midwest with a permanent presence in Ecuador and the student cohort was made up of kids from LACs mostly in the midwest. Cost wise it was in the middle of the pack for programs offered. The more expensive programs were to other continents where airfare was more expensive. The cost was all inclusive except incidentals and run as a group class with outside excursions and tours. There was classroom time, readings and papers involved. It wasn’t just a sight seeing thing. It was a home-stay thing rather than dorms. She loved the home stay. Some study abroad programs are school run and others are facilitated but it is essentially the kid taking regular classes as a student at another university and living in the dorm.
My DD is studying abroad this fall. We pay tuition, room and board as if she was still at her school. All financial aid, with the exception of work-study which is not available while abroad, remains the same. They, in turn. pay her tuition and most fees to the study abroad program. They also gave her a stipend for airfare and a stipend for food (because the program pays a stipend that only covers 2 meals per day).
All other fees such as passport, incidentals, side trips, etc. are ours. This includes buying a lot of new clothes and a heavy coat since she is going where it’s cold and we are from a warm weather location!
The most expensive thing may be paying for another semester or two at the US college when the student allows study abroad to ruin their GPA or otherwise does not meet graduation requirements because of it. Students PM me about such issues every now and then. Even well established study abroad programs can be vague about how GPA is calculated and how credits transfer back to the US college. Worst case scenario, grades are translated very harshly and no credits transfer, so the student cannot graduate on time. I strongly urge you to look into this before committing to any study abroad program.