<p>I was thinking about studying in australia at some point down the road, and had a few questions.</p>
<li><p>Does this cost extra money, or is it included under your tuition.(no point in paying 30k a year to go to one school, and at the same time paying anohter 30k a year to study in australia.</p></li>
<li><p>Does the school set everything up for you? Your housing, food, and such. and are you usually alone or with a group of other students from your school.</p></li>
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<p>The answer to each of your questions depends a lot on your college. Some colleges pay for and set up most everything. Other colleges give you the time off from classes, but have you make the arrangements and pay for them. That's one of the hidden quality differences among colleges.</p>
<p>At many programs, you will be the one of a small number, or more likely, the only, student from your home school. Certainly this was true of D's BSM program. </p>
<p>As for logistics, it may depend on whether the program is run by your school or if your school participates in a program run by someone else. D paid her home school tuition only but then paid [cheaper] room and board to her abroad program...actually, directly to the host family (apartment options were also available and the more popular option at that).</p>
<p>An interesting wrinkle on grades: since D's program was not run by her school, her home school simply rated the classes as Pass/Fail. However, the grades from the abroad program will be calculated into her GPA for any applications to graduate or professional school.</p>
<p>It really depends on my school. My school has an excellent study abroad office, and there are over 30 semester programs, over 25 winter term programs (we're on a 4-1-4 schedule) and about 10 summer programs that make it incredibly easy to study abroad. Since they are "Elon" programs, the study abroad office can integrate what you take in a foreign country into your transcript with little problem. You run into some roadblocks if you want to go somewhere Elon doesn't offer a program, but it is still totally doable. If you can't go for a whole semester, our Winter Term programs are a great way to go abroad and take a general requirement, or just a fun class. Other schools may have other programs, but Elon is really known for their exceptional program. I was a transfer to Elon in my sophomore year, and I am studying abroad twice, graduating on time, and I have a double major and a double minor. It can be done, if you are good at planning!</p>
<p>My D's friend went to study abroad for a semester in Shanghai, loved it so much, that she extended it for another semester; so basically she did her entire sophomore year abroad.</p>
<p>If you study abroad through your own school, you would pay your school the usual fees, but then be responsible for airfare and other incidentals. If you do another school's program, it is likely that you will have to take a leave of absence from your school, and pay that school's program cost.</p>
<p>At most schools if you are getting financial aid, that aid would apply to your study abroad (if you were doing your school program).</p>
<p>
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is it allowed to study abroad for a full two years?
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</p>
<p>Some colleges may have formal programs to do that, and other colleges will surely permit you to take time off from your degree program to have a longer foreign experience. I did my studying abroad after completing my undergraduate degree, and ended up turning a planned one-year stay into three years because I liked the country and had interesting work there.</p>
<p>At my daughter's school, they accept credit from many study abroad programs run by other schools - they must be approved by the college. The student pays the usual room, board, and tuition to her collegel and receives the usual financial aid. The school gives the student a check for the anticipated cost of a flight from the student's home to the location of study abroad. My daughter is studying at a program where students purchase meals on their own (they are not on a plan or served by a host family), so the school also gave her a check for the anticipated cost of meals abroad. We still paid her school more than we would have if we had paid directly to the program abroad, but it must be done this way if she is to receive credit from her school. If she did not need the credit to graduate, she could have withdrawn for a semester and done this on her own at a lower cost.</p>