<p>I've been looking into going abroad next year, and was surprised to learn that I need to pay my college 7% of the college's own tuition + fees for the privilege of going abroad. And at my LAC, that amounts to a pretty hefty fee. (This is of course on top of the costs of the study abroad program.) I'm not on FA, so this 7% fee is a lot out of pocket. Supposedly the college needs this money for administrative costs associated with my being abroad. It seems quite out of line to me.
Do other colleges charges such a large amount to students going abroad?</p>
<p>This is no joke. I went to Germany on my own and enrolled as a non-degree foreign student directly, for a minimal fee and no tuition whatsoever. When I met my American counterparts, I was astonished to learn that they paid regular tuition in their colleges with extra fees and got exactly what I did, though there was an “office” they could hang out in. They got nothing in terms of administration as it was easy to do everything administrative on my own. I would suggest looking into this as an option, as I was able to get credit for the courses I took in Germany and experienced no hassles at all. </p>
<p>If you mean an outside program, the US school isn’t getting your tuition ad room/board while you’re away, right? I We would have paid about 6-7% (of tuition,) plus 16k for the program and transportation, versus a much heftier total in the US. In contrast, a program run by the college was much less and easier.</p>
<p>THat’s right, an outside enrollment. You have to make sure you can transfer the credits. </p>
<p>I thought the difference between what I paid and the others did was outrageous - all I had to do was spend a few hours arranging things in one office and then use their housing office. Their schools did essentially nothing but did get financing for their “office” apartment.</p>
<p>Yes, to clarify, I’m referring to study abroad programs not run by my college. I would have to pay the cost of the study abroad program + the 7% fee (7% of tuition, room and board) to my college.
Lookingforward – right, the college is not getting tuition, room & board $ from me, but they will fill my spot for that semester and pick up the tuition, room & board from another student. With about 50% of the junior class going abroad each year, the college has to fill those spots on campus. So the college will still be at capacity and picking up almost $4000 from every student who’s abroad (for a full year). That’s what I think is out of line.
Alcibiade – did you stay enrolled in a US college while you were in Germany? I am pretty sure I have to stay enrolled in my college in order for them to accept the credits from abroad.</p>
<p>I took a leave, but they transferred the credits. It was a small liberal college, very flexible. They did not accept the grades for GPA, just gave me credits. </p>
<p>Where would you study and what subject? I have been involved with European unis in France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, so might be able to help in other ways.</p>
<p>alcibiade: I’d like to study in Germany, or possibly Austria or Switzerland, mostly to take courses in German lit / culture, but I might also want to take courses in bio, chem, or neuroscience. Thanks.</p>
<p>A really really nice livable city is Freiburg im Breisgau. I loved it, still have friends there. It is in the Southwest, near France and the people are warmer than N Germans. I have never lived in Austria, but it is culturally very rich (if you like modernism). In Switzerland, you would learn a dialect that is in fact a separate language, and the Swiss have a reputation for, well, dullness. I find them decent, if set in their ways; we live near Geneva, in the French Alps. </p>
<p>Hi LACluster,</p>
<p>If your host university abroad is a state / public university, it is most likely highly subsidized by the host country government. Often, European countries don’t charge more for foreign students than they do for their own students (and when they do, it’s negligible by US standards).</p>
<p>Credits are what seem to lock US students into study abroad programs sponsored by US universities or study abroad companies. I mentioned in other posts that a lot of foreign universities have international programs for foreign students - sometimes just the host country language, oftentimes the host country language + culture classes, and sometimes language courses, culture courses, and the chance to take regular university courses if you have a high enough level in the language they teach in.</p>
<p>Direct enrollment into one of these programs is a lot less expensive than going through a US university or program, but then you’ll have a bit more work getting credit for yoru courses, and also have to deal with how to maintain your matriculated status at your home school (unless you study abroad in the summer).</p>
<p>You asked if other colleges charge the same. The answer is yes and no. Some colleges charge you your regular tutuion. Others charge you your regular tuition plus additional fees. And some cool colleges only charge you (more or less) what you are really paying to the host university. Sme colleges allow their students to pay a small fee ($300 - $500 are some I have seen) to maintain their matriculated status so that they can study abroad independently. This way they get to lock-in the low prices of the host schools abroad.</p>
<p>Many US colleges will insist that you go through one of their programs or a partner program if they are offered in the country you want to go to. At my D1’s college, you had to go through a process to petition to study directly at a foreign university (and get out of paying the home college tuition). And you had to have a good academic reason for the petition to be granted – my D’s was only granted because she went to a country that has almost no US study abroad students there, no programs from her college or their partners, and she had studied the language and spent a summer there during high school.</p>
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<p>Not all foreign universities allow foreign students to use their housing office or provide housing on campus. At some colleges the direct enroll foreign students are pretty much last in line (meaning no college housing available), and get no help from the university other than being directed to a website for housing. And trying to arrange housing from the US, especially in a non-English speaking country, is tough. People looking for roommates or to sublet strongly prefer to avoid that hassle of communication snafus due to language issues and your need to wire money to pay a deposit. My daughter responded to a ton (I am guessing maybe 50) postings for roommates over a couple month period before she finally found someone who would sublet to her.</p>
<p>My D spent a lot more than “a few hours” arranging her classes, making sure they transferred, and arranging housing. The classes the university staff had committed that she would be able to take via email exchanges when arranging her semester turned out in many cases to not be offered when she was there. She had to piece together a schedule (with a ton of small credit classes, this is the way this large university worked), then work with each department back at her home college to see if they would accept the credits. They had agreed to the schedule she had worked out with the college ahead of time… but it turned out that the registrar who committed to it really didn’t know what she was talking about. So during the semester she was haggling with department chairs at her home college over whether her schedule would be acceptable.</p>
<p>This was all pretty stressful – it gave me an appreciation for what you are getting when you pay your college for a program or a partner program. I honestly wouldn’t do it again; if D2 wants to study abroad, she will probably go through a formal program and we will pay her university tuition.</p>