Study Abroad

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
1

<p>I've been following the general discussion in the Parents Forum, but as I had a question specific to Swarthmore, I thought I'd post it here. I'm a full-freight parent, and my daughter is thinkikng about a one-semester study-abroad program which would cost way less than one semester at Swarthmore. I realize that she can just take a semester off and go abroad. But do I understand correctly that if she does that, she won't be able to transfer any of the academic credits from the program back to Swarthmore? If that's true, then the option to take a semester off doesn't really exist if she wants to graduate in four years.</p>

<p>Or, if she does a summer program and then a fall program abroad, would my lst semester tuition cover both of those programs to make the finances even out a bit more?</p>

2

<p>It does seem like you have to pay Swarthmore tuition + room & board regardless of the cost of the program if you need the credit. For that reason my daughter decided not to study abroad. (Well, she also does not want to "miss" a semester of Swarthmore, even though she would have enough sredits to graduate in 7 semesters...)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/ofs/planning/paying.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/ofs/planning/paying.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"If you wish to receive Swarthmore credit for your foreign study, you must conform to the payment plan provisions of Swarthmore's Semester/Year Abroad Program, which are:</p>

<p><strong><em>1. For your semester (or year) abroad, you will pay full Swarthmore tuition, room, and board
*</em></strong>** to Swarthmore. </p>

<p><strong><em>2. Swarthmore will cover these expenses on your behalf with your program, according to
*</em></strong>***foreign study payment guidelines. </p>

<p><strong><em>3. If your program does not cover travel, Swarthmore will cover this according to foreign
*</em></strong>***study payment guidelines. </p>

<p><strong><em>4. Financial aid is normally routinely applied to foreign study done under Swarthmore's
*</em></strong>** Semester/Year Abroad Program. </p>

<p>Further:</p>

<p>Occasionally, a Swarthmore student who wishes to do study abroad finds that he or she needs no credit from the planned study abroad to graduate on schedule (i.e., seven semesters of Swarthmore credit will do the job), and elects to do study abroad on his or her own, outside of the College's payment plan. Since the Constitution of the United States continues to be honored at Swarthmore, this is his or her perfect right. If you think you may be such a student,</p>

<p><strong><em>1. Review your situation carefully with the foreign study adviser as well as the chair of your
*</em></strong>** actual or prospective major department, to be certain that this will work for you; and, </p>

<p><strong><em>2. Be assured that this office will help and advise you fully in the development of your
*</em></strong>** plans, and do everything it can to help you to succeed with them.</p>

<p>*** 3. For admissions purposes, most programs don<code>t care whether you will be attending under
******* the College</code>s semester/year abroad program or on your own. A few programs, however,
******* frown upon or even disapprove of the latter practice. Questions about this should be
******* directed to the program(s) which interest you. </p>

<p>Yet Further:</p>

<p>Some foreign study programs award scholarships, and Swarthmore students planning study abroad are free to apply for same. Information on this from the programs(s).</p>

<p>And, both public and private granting agencies - e.g., National Security Education Program (NSEP), Institute of International Education (IIE), St. Address Foundation, and Rotary Club - provide scholarship aid in support of study abroad. Swarthmore students planning study abroad may apply for any of this as well. Information on this available in the Office for Foreign Study."</p>

3

<p>My son has decided not to study abroad for the same reasons as nngmm's daughter. He also has the credits to graduate a year ahead but he won't do that.</p>

<p>p.s - We're also paying full freight.</p>

4

<p>p.p.s - Not a year ahead, a semester ahead as in nngmm's daughter's case.</p>

5

<p>The flip side of the equation is that quite a few of the study abroad programs cost as much, or perhaps even more, than Swarthmore.</p>

<p>Also, don't forget AP credits. Most Swarthmore students have a couple of extra credits in the bank, so "skipping" a semester would mean taking a fifth course (pass/fail if you like) during two semesters -- again, a fairly routine scenario.</p>

<p>I will say that my D and I independently recognized that the cost of the program entered into the equation in considering various study abroad programs. We reached an agreement that a program needed to provide academic, cultural, or horizon expanding value comparable to a semester at Swarthmore. Is the overseas experience something that could be gotten easily outside of a college program, at any time, for lower cost? Or is it a unique opportunity that would be difficult or impossible to duplicate in another context? </p>

<p>The cost implications proved useful in taking the search seriously, as we told our daughter that she would have to make the case that the program of her choice was worth the cost.</p>

6

<p>Everyone I know who did a summer semester or yr abroad felt that they grew immeasurably and that it was a highlight of their life.
Everyone I know who did not do so regretted the lost opportunity!</p>

7

<p>From what I've heard, most Swarthmore students find study abroad to be less rigorous and academically rewarding then a semester at Swat (though fun and valuable experience nevertheless).</p>

<p>I agree that it is much more "convenient" for the students to do this during their college career, when everything is set up and arranged for them. I just can't justify paying $20,000 for something that has a "sticker price" of $6,000-8,000...</p>

<p>I think that the program that IDs daughter will be doing does sound unique, difficult (if not impossible) to do on your own, and probably expensive enough to justify the cost. Luckily for her, it also, I guess, fits her academic interests :).</p>

8

<p>My son came to the same conclusion himself (about the cost). We did not instruct him one way or the other...but ID's daughter's program sounds very interesting.</p>

9

<p>I didn't see any Swarthmore approved programs that were that inexpensive by the time you read all the fine print.</p>

<p>About the lowest I saw was in the $13k for a semester, once housing and airfare are factored in. Many are in the $20k range. Of course, the prices are usually set to correspond to typical US college fees (for various types of schools) and are almost always higher than it would cost to do something similar on your own.</p>

10

<p>Thanks, all. The professor who will be my daughter's advisor in her intended major (and yes, I'd bet she'll be sticking with that major) has already told her that students with that major really should be doing study abroad programs, and she has her heart set on doing one. Idad's last post made me feel better. I think I might not have been factoring in room and board when I looked at fees, which made the price for one semester seem awfully low.</p>

<p>My daughter's high school had no AP courses, so she's got nothing in the bank, so to speak.</p>

11

<p>I don't think you'll have any trouble finding programs that push $20,000 for a semester once you include tuition, room & board, and airfare -- all of which Swat covers.</p>

<p>Although it takes a while to get the hang of it, the Swarthmore Study Abroad website is a fantastic resource:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/ofs/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/ofs/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>By and large, their recommended programs look like really good ones and it's a pretty comprehensive list. You almost have to take the website page by page, because some of the gems, both in terms of advice and programs, are hidden. The International Honors Program (<a href="http://www.ihp.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ihp.edu&lt;/a&gt;) offerings didn't immediately jump out because they aren't listed under a particular country or region. Likewise, the SIT organization (<a href="http://www.sit.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.sit.edu&lt;/a&gt;) has an incredible range of theme-based programs around the world.</p>

12

<p>That's an odd policy that I haven't really dealt with yet. I do know that Swat approves of summer language study programs; it doesn't pay for it, but it definitely gives credit for it. Doesn't make sense to me that you can't transfer credits back to Swat for normal study abroad if you get department approval ahead of time, but who knows. Seems like a weird double standard.</p>

13

<p>gphoenix:</p>

<p>As near as I can tell, the current study abroad policy dates back to 1995. Since the online paper doesn't go back that far, it's tough to read about the reasoning. However, I think it was done to encourage more kids to study abroad.</p>

<p>Historically, only rich kids have done a semester abroad. Financial aid students had a tougher time of it. In theory, financial aid could be applied for to cover study abroad, but I'm not sure that all of the federal, state, and private scholarships automatically transfer without a lot of red tape. By having payments still go to Swarthmore, absolutely nothing changes when you study abroad. All of your existing financial aid stays in place....exactly as if you taking all your classes in Kohlberg. It's a great system for students receiving large chunks of financial aid. You don't even have to come up with the cash for the deposit check -- Swarthmore pays it.</p>

<p>The downside? There is none for financial aid students: the family contribution stays the same. Full-fare customers might get stiffed by a few thousand bucks for a semester abroad -- unless they happen to pick a program that is as expensive as Swarthmore. There are many programs that fit that bill. Swat in France. Smith in France. Hamilton in Spain. ICCS in Rome. Almost anything in Japan is more than Swarthmore. And so on.</p>

<p>It would be an interesting question to ask Al Bloom or Bob Gross sometime in a forum. If you don't factor in financial aid or the money they spend sending kids overseas for summer senior thesis research, I think the College probably does make a little money billing study abroad semesters at full pop -- but only because so many students go to Europe.</p>