<p>I'm looking for input from parents whose kids have spent a semester abroad, preferably in Europe.</p>
<p>DS is a college sophomore, he wants to spend next spring in Spain. His already expensive LAC's tuition & housing fees would go with him, and I know we'd have to pay his plane flight on top of that. Beyond that, has it been your experience that the semester abroad is a lot more expensive than staying on campus?</p>
<p>I ask because a good friend's daughter is in Spain right now, and she says it has cost her at least $3k more than if she had stayed at her (very expensive) private univ here in the USA. She says most of the additional costs came from travel (Ireland, Paris, Portugal, Canary Islands) even though the kids usually stayed in nice hostels. But traveling around Europe is half the point of going overseas for a semester! </p>
<p>I'm not sure if we can afford this. It would help if I knew if my 11th grader is going to a private college or the state flagship, but we won't know that in time to make the decision. Also DS has tried with no luck to find employment for the summer, so other than a VERY part-time gig (he made $600 doing this last summer) his funds are going to be very limited. If he goes abroad, DH and I will have to shoulder most of the costs.</p>
<p>Any input from parents whose kids have been in Europe for a semester?</p>
<p>Not Europe, but Australia, and, yes, it was more expensive. Travel to and from as well as within Australia. No point in staying in one place, after all! And all the sightseeing, and the souvenirs, etc…</p>
<p>He has to pay his full tuition while abroad?</p>
<p>I would say it cost me a little less than $2000 (probably close to $1700) in personal expenses when I was abroad in Spain (September-December 2008). It helps that I was in Sevilla, which is a lower-cost city than Madrid or Barcelona. If he travels–Ryanair, clickair, vueling are the ways to go in terms of flights. You can get hostels in most of Europe for less that $20 a night. If you want any details of my travels and expenses abroad, PM me.</p>
<p>My daughter is going to Sydney this July. The tuition is going to be 5000 cheaper. Room and board are going to be the same, waiting to hear back from a residential college now. I was able to get a round trip air for 1000 from NY. I haven’t factored in local travel and expense yet.</p>
<p>DD spent a semester in London, one of the world’s most expensive cities. Yes, it cost much more when our dollar was so low against the British pound at the time. Is your S going to have room and board at the school? Is the school located in a large city ? Eating out or buying food cost twice as much as it does here and that’s where my DD spent most of her money, not including weekend travels around Britain and mainland Europe. I would concur spending $1K more per month while in Europe is not an exaggeration. My DD spent more than that.</p>
<p>Our S’s college charged the same tuition as if he were on campus, so it came out more expensive with the added cost of travel and sight-seeing. We saved only a bit on room and board.</p>
<p>My kid is in South Africa for the semester. His LAC paid for his airfare, his lodging and gave him and the other students participating a food stipend. So far, it has cost our family $0 extra dollars. Granted, the LAC is pretty expensive to begin with, and we continue paying full tuition for the semester.
He has traveled quite a bit on the continent- used some of his surplus food money for travel (they eat cheaply, apparently), as well as money from his own bank account that he earned over previous summers and during the school year.<br>
When my daughter traveled abroad for the summer during her undergraduate years, she was able to get grants ($3000 and $2500 respectively) from her college department for travel expenses, including airfare.<br>
Every college has their own way of doing things, and it may differ within departments at the various schools. If the travel has direct bearing on your child’s field of study, money may be available that wouldn’t be otherwise through their academic department.</p>
<p>I think many privates charge what you are paying. My Ds school does not have any SA, but instead facilitates the kids going on any program they wish through another school, established program, or direct enroll. She will be doing a semester at the University of East Anglia in the Fall for ~$10,000 (not pounds). I will add $1,000 for extras. She then goes to Spain for Jan-May. That program (API) is ~$13,000, but since she will stay with family,$3,000 is discounted. Again, I’ll add $1,000. Another $2,000 for air fare (generous). Her school charges only $75 fee, and she has already been guararteed of credits since her school is familiar with both schools. Insurance is ~$300 for the entire year. That’s only ~$25,000 for the entire year, way cheaper than a year here at home, plus her scholarships follow her. The way they do things with SA was a factor in her selection.</p>
<p>My sister actually saved money living in Australia. It was just this past year - she gained $3000 because she went to a school outside of her University. She sent the tuition money directly, but gained $3000 because of the exchange rate (Australian dollars). She had a blast.</p>
<p>If the school insists on charging the regular COA, you might explore the possibilities of taking one year off (or a semester) and compose an individual program. Taking a full year off might allow the student to work 1/2 a year, save some money for the trip, and then travel abroad. At the current exchange rates, the cost of attending a college in Europe should be lower than they were in the years past. </p>
<p>Of course, the availability and transferability of financial might invalidate this suggestion. And it would delay graduation by one year – perhaps not the greatest handicap in this economy. :)</p>
<p>Our D went to Australia and while the trip and tuition were funded through her scholarship, we are always responsible for room and board costs. </p>
<p>Our experience is that although the costs may look the same, it is likely it will be more expensive. In D’s case, she needed some particular types of clothing (the trip included a 3 week study tour in Asia with backpacks), additional funds for traveling within Australia/New Zealand, and some souvenirs associated with all parts of the trip. D is not extravagant.</p>
<p>The exchange rate wasn’t as favorable as it is now, so certainly that will have an impact. I don’t mean to be negative about this as I’m a HUGE believer in international travel. Quite simply, it was the highlight of my D’s life and worth every single penny.</p>
<p>You are right to question the expenses, but with a frugal approach, the costs–while more than at their regular school–can be managed to be only slightly higher. That said, we were lucky her scholarship covered the airfare for everything except personal travel once in Australia. </p>
<p>If it’s at all possible, I’d find a way to make it happen. Another option is to look for study abroad in countries that could be slightly less expensive, ie South America. I am so sorry that S didn’t do study abroad…I think he’ll always regret it.</p>
<p>Could someone tell me what’s the best cell phone plan my daughter should get while she is in Sydney? We have an unlocked international phone already. She text a lot, with calls to the states. Appreciate any info.</p>
<p>Same deal for us. We paid the LAC, the LAC paid the study abroad program, which was actually a little more than the LAC, including the NY > Buenos Aires > Beijing > Shanghia > Singapore > Bangalore > Dubai > NY airfare. The college also sent D a check for $500 or so misc. expenses.</p>
<p>My daughter always paid her own spending money in college and her study abroad was no exception. She mentioned that she spent more than she did at college, but I don’t think it was a huge difference. The two big extra expenses were vacation trips to the Andes foothills in Argentina (youth hostel) and to Varkala, India where they stayed in grass huts on a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean. </p>
<p>Dinners were generally eaten with the homestay families in each country. Lunches were often big group meals in a low cost restaurant. There were communting expenses (subway in Buenos Aires, auto-rickshaw in India). And, some money for sightseeing and going out at night. But, the study abroad program was so demanding, I don’t think she really had a lot of time to burn through a pile of money partying.</p>
<p>If money is an issue, why not suggest to you son that he go to a lower cost destination than Europe?</p>
<p>Knowing what I know now, a close review of the college’s study abroad should be part of the comprehensive look at each school on the list in the admissions process. There is no one size fits all. One family is going to be better served by one approach, another by the other.</p>
<p>BTW, I’m seeing rumblings that schools are taking a hard look at reducing study abroad expenses as part of the significant budget cutting that will occur over the next few years. Even for small LACS, we are looking at million dollar plus line items for study abroad and/or study abroad financial aid. Line items of that size are juicy targets. I believe that study abroad programs are likely to go through serious retrenchment over the coming years.</p>
<p>PO - is your son required to go abroad on a program sponsored by his current college?</p>
<p>If not…look into your own state schools that have study abroad programs that allow “visiting” students. I did this many years ago and was able to pay instate tuition - so the semester abroad, even with some additional travel and airfare, cost much less than a semester at my private LAC.</p>
<p>Many of the programs go to the same places…but have different type of coordination, side trips etc…depending on the American school sponsoring the program.</p>
<p>He’s required to go attend a program that is “approved” by his LAC. I just looked at their approved list, and it’s quite extensive, but none of the programs are thru UMass. sigh.</p>
<p>My son did a study abroad in England and my daughter did one in Peru. For both kids our only expense was the flight. We just paid the colleges like usual and that amount transferred with them along with their scholarships. Both used their earnings from jobs to pay for any extra’s, just as they did at their home college.</p>
<p>Our son did a semester abroad in England last year. The tuition was the same, so no increase there. Room and board were the same, so again, no increase there (except that in the US, my son is a commuter so that was an added expense for us - but then we were not buying gas for his car either nor were we feeding him - and I’m sure you know just how much boys can eat). The expenses were air fare (but his college gave him a $1000 scholarship for this program, so that covered the air fare. You may want to ask about this. At his school, we found out, that they have a harder time filling this study abroad program in the fall - who wants to start dorm housing in the spring with a room mate you may not know - so they give the kids going in the fall a scholarship.) and spending money for that semester. </p>
<p>Since you want your student to do some traveling while abroad, some money must be allotted for this. This is an expense that might not be allotted for if the student was staying in the US. Also, there is a need for money to purchase needed items and money for food when away from the school. About $1000 a month is a reasonable amount.</p>
<p>BTW, we chose this school for our son based on it’s study abroad program. And we nixed some schools from our list because we did not like their study abroad programs.</p>
<p>DD’s school; you pay a $250 a semester fee to the university; you pay the study abroad program directly. If you are on financial aid, the FA travels with you after you have set a budget with the study abroad staff. It did not cost us any more for DD to study abroad. If we had not been on financial aid (if we were full-pay parents), we would have saved a lot of money sending her to her country. She enrolled in a program with I.E.S. in Chile and liked it a lot; she later found out she could have direct-enrolled at the university herself and saved even more money, though I was glad for the ability to contact someone in USA if there was problem. (and it was a moot point since we had financial aid.) I like that her college handles it this way. The money-saving aspect becomes yours!</p>