Study abroad prices leave students to make tough decisions

An estimated 500 juniors and seniors leave the Tufts community each year to study abroad. For each of those 500 students, decisions must be made regarding time abroad and the particular program to take. Similar programs in the same country as a Tufts program can run at about half the cost of a comparable Tufts program.

For many students, the issue of cost becomes a primary determinant. Each Tufts program costs $35,597, no matter which study abroad location is attended. This cost covers orientation, full room and board, tuition, extracurricular costs, and cultural events, and excursions.

Of the 500 students who go abroad, an estimated 160 students study with a Tufts program and 350 study with a non-Tufts program, according to Dean of Study Abroad Sheila Bayne. "While Tufts only has ten programs around the world, there are over 200 other programs that Tufts has found reputable enough to be approved by our faculty," she said.

The cost difference, administrators say, is a result of how Tufts' programs are organized_ these programs handle almost every possible detail for the students. They assist in finding flights for students, in transferring credits and grades, and Residential Directors work at each of the partner universities.

"For many other programs, the cost is so little because so much is actually paid by the student," Bayne said. "It is the student's choice whether to start the year off running with everything taken care of, or to spend a lot of time settling in."

Though the listed price for Tufts programs may be more than those through other universities, the amount students pay can be less. Financial aid that students receive from Tufts can be applied to study abroad programs, but many students have to foot the bill if they choose other programs.

For many students, their central concern is the ease of transferring credits or having grades count, and they choose to study with Tufts for this reason. Sophomore Jessica Katz is just beginning to think about studying abroad and is having trouble deciding between a Tufts program and a similar non-Tufts curriculum.

"I want to study abroad for the experience of living in a different country," Katz said. But she is not sure if the program would be worth it if she would have to catch up on her requirements with an extra year at Tufts because her credits were not transferable. "If I could go to London for $10,000, why should I go for $37,000?" she asked.

For each of the 200 recognized non-Tufts programs, most credits will transfer. "Credits will transfer and count on a student's transcript so long as the courses taken are similar to those taught at Tufts," Bayne said. Courses in subjects such as business, for example, cannot be given credit because there are no business courses at Tufts. But grades in these classes are not always calculated into one's GPA.

Students say that getting help from Tufts does make a difference while they are abroad. "A Tufts program is easier because they do all the paper work for you," she said. But she doesn't know if that difference is worth the price spread. "Eight credits through a non-Tufts program are worth less than taking those same eight credits [with a Tufts program] but paying an insane amount more."

If grades do not transfer, it is because the faculty at Tufts has not looked over the specific coursework to determine an equivalent grade, Bayne said. "We spent a long time creating firm relationships with our partner universities and through these long associations we have been able to fully integrate the foreign grades into Tufts."

For other students, the choice of studying with either Tufts or another university was born out of necessity. Senior Carl Jackson had a specific place he wanted to study and without a suitable Tufts program, he was forced to look elsewhere.

"I wanted to find a program in Africa dealing with developing economies, poverty alleviation, and politics in the developing world." Jackson said. The Tufts-in-Ghana program was temporarily suspended at the time he was to go abroad.

Though many students say they are annoying by the large amount of paperwork they must file to go abroad on other programs, Jackson praised the help he received from Tufts in finding other study abroad options.

"Tufts feels comfortable enough to know that not everyone is going to study with Tufts, and I think it is good that they help the others looking for alternative studies," Jackson said.

The incentive for students to take part in other programs may not be necessarily financial, Bayne said. "Pretty much all Tufts programs are full-year and many students would rather study for only a semester. [The programs have] a very high language requirement... and many of the programs are very selective," Bayne said. The Oxford program, for example, requires a 3.7 grade point average.

The decision about where to study abroad and with which institution is ultimately related to the individual person and their specific interests, Bayne said. "At a university like Tufts, we have the opportunity to help students find the right program for them whether it is with Tufts or someone else."

Tufts offers programs in ten destinations: Chili, China, Ghana, Hong Kong, Japan, London, Madrid, Oxford, Paris, and T??bingen. But if these choices are not enough for students they can search among the over two hundred approved non-Tufts programs or even create their own.