Studying abroad is more affordable than most think

By Nichole Allen
Western Herald

For the students who enrolled in one of Western Michigan University’s 60 study abroad programs in one of 35 countries last year, discovered that studying abroad can be affordable.

In 2007, WMU study abroad students received more than $400,000 from WMU funds and scholarships, in addition to outside fellowships.

“I certainly would like to see an increase of five to 10 percent of students who can make it possible to go to other places in the world,” WMU President John Dunn said. “We’re very proud of the opportunities that have afforded a number of students to study abroad.”

Haenicke Institute for Global Education recently collaborated with the WMU Student Career and Employment Services to develop a system to assist students who are interested in seeking internships abroad for academic credit.

More than 600 students visited the annual HIGE study abroad fair on Oct. 8.

Although each program varies in cost, budgets are set up to be fairly comprehensive and exclusive.

“How much you spend depends on what happens while you’re there,” Margaret von Steinen, communications officer for the HIGE and coordinator of the Prague Summer Program said. “The miscellaneous part of the budget is where we include money for the extras. It is quite detailed including passports, immunizations, insurance and so forth.”

One of the guaranteed costs is a $250 non-refundable application fee, billed to the student’s account.
“Our belief is that every student should have an overseas experience,” von Steinen said. “And we are going to do whatever we can to help them achieve that.”

HIGE provides up to $1,500 for 19 short-term study abroad programs from two to eight weeks in length usually completed in the summer months.

In addition to partial scholarships, WMU offers scholarships covering the complete cost of studying abroad.
“I was very fortunate in that every year there is an extremely generous full-ride scholarship offered from Keio for a WMU student to attend their school,” said Rodger Swan, a senior working towards a Japanese minor, enrolled in the Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. “My tuition was paid for and I was receiving nearly $1,000 a month to pay for rent, food, train fare and just general spending money.”

Swan, an English major, also received other private and WMU sponsored scholarships.

“I knew about the full-ride scholarship with Keio and so that was a huge financial factor in determining where I wanted to go,” he said. “The study abroad department here at WMU is fantastic with finding and offering scholarships for all the students in all the programs though, as nearly everyone I know received some sort of aid.”

Brock Blade, a senior majoring in finance didn’t receive a scholarship, but was eligible for another form of financial aid allowing him to enroll at the University of Wollongong in Wollongong, Australia.

“Money was a factor in almost every choice I had to make,” Blade said. “I had a budget and took it into consideration with everything from program choice to looking for flight deals to figuring out budgets for food, travel and other expenditures.”

Blade said he made sure he was aware of how much he was spending and even booked trips with people who had the same budget mindset as he did.

Although studying abroad is the chance of a lifetime for students, some aspects of the programs should be carefully considered.

“When looking to study abroad, I would suggest students weigh most heavily on a region of the world they want to travel to,” Blade said. “This is where your life will be for the time you are abroad; choose a destination that you are interested in.”

He added that other major aspects to look into are program courses and specific classes for particular majors.

“And finally, how much you are willing to spend because different programs and locations will cost different amounts,” Blade said.

The HIGE offers daily walk-in study abroad advising and information sessions in B2425 Ellsworth Hall. For more information call (269) 387-5890 or e-mail study-abroad@wmich.edu.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=1581

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Oct 23 2008. Filed under News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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