If you're thinking about joining the 58 percent of study-abroad
students who choose to study in Europe, you may want to
consider how the decreasing value of the dollar, which has fallen 5 percent to
the pound and 10 percent to the euro, may affect your future costs.
College and graduate students interested in studying abroad
may want to start seeking out less mainstream destinations to offset the declining
dollar and the increasing costs of foreign study programs. Programs in South
America, Africa and Asia, where currency exchange rates are more favorable, may
be more budget-friendly to cost-sensitive students, according to an article by
Karin Fischer in The Chronicle of Higher
Education ("Declining Dollar Has Colleges Scrambling to Cover Study-Abroad
Costs," Dec. 6, 2007).
NextStudent, a leading Phoenix-based education funding
company, encourages study-abroad applicants to consider these lower-cost destinations,
in order to keep their study-abroad costs low and to minimize their need for
parent or student
loans.
Schools Taking Cost-Cutting Measures
Schools, which set their study-abroad fees in advance, are finding that rapidly changing exchange rates are creating huge budgetary problems for both them and their
students.
Just since the beginning of the fall semester, for example, the dollar has seen an 8.5 percent decrease against the euro. U.S. students in Europe are finding that their dollar-based budget doesn't stretch as far as it did just a few months ago. And some schools are having to continually recalculate fees to keep up with the sinking dollar. Austin College in Texas, for instance, has already adjusted the price of one of its courses in Greece four times since May.
Besides raising program charges to students (and according to Fischer, study-abroad costs are up 10 to 15 percent over the last several years), some schools are cutting back
on study-abroad program offerings and renegotiating program arrangements with
providers.
A Shift Toward Less-Traveled Destinations
Europe has traditionally exerted the strongest pull for study-abroad students. Almost 60 percent of all students studying abroad choose a program in Europe. The United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and France are the most popular study-abroad destinations, according to the Institute of International Education.
However, rising study abroad costs may be helping to diversify study abroad choices,
pushing students to less traditional foreign locations where the dollar stretches further. Cultural Experiences Abroad, a for-profit provider of study-abroad programs, has seen a 52-percent increase in enrollment this semester for its Buenos Aires program, reports Fisher, and a 150-percent increase for its program in Prague, which hasn't yet converted to the euro.
Says Geoffrey Bannister, CEA's president and chief academic officer, "Paradoxically, there's a good side to the dollar's decline because it's causing students to look at different destinations."
Financing Your Study-Abroad Program
You can usually apply your federal financial aid to school-approved study-abroad
programs - you should check with their school financial aid office. If you're looking for help with financing a study abroad program, NextStudent offers a variety of federal graduate student loans, college
loans, and parent loans, as well as the award-winning NextStudent Scholarship Search Engine, where you can search over 5.9 million scholarships for awards available specifically for foreign study programs.
If you find that, even after scholarships, federal student loans and grants, your study
abroad costs still exceed your available financial aid, NextStudent Private
Student Loans could provide the additional financial assistance you need. Federal student loans generally offer more attractive terms than private student loans, so make sure you
look into your federal financing options first.
NextStudent believes that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and we're dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding simple. Learn more about Student Loans, Private Student Loans and Student Loan Consolidation at NextStudent.com.
Tags: budget, measures, asia, last several years, student loans, mainstream, europe, south america, colleges, graduate students, currency exchange rates, greece, based education, education funding