Editorials

Extortion not an option

By the

April 29, 2004


Beginning in the fall of 2005, students hoping to study abroad will have to pay full Georgetown tuition. Currently, students pay the cost of their overseas program, plus a $3000 “administration fee” to Georgetown. Foreign universities, especially those in developing countries, are usually much cheaper, so students can end up paying very little for the semester or year overseas. The change to full tuition amounts to more than a four-fold increase in costs in one year. As the value of the school’s already small endowment plummets, the University does need the money. But depriving some students of an experience many call unmatchable is not the way to obtain these funds.

According to Lori Citti, the associate director of the Office of International Programs, the study abroad discount Georgetown has been providing causes a problem she calls “tuition flight.” With 52 percent of Georgetown students studying abroad at some point, she says the University is losing money and cannot afford to retain the low fee.

Despite Georgetown’s dire financial circumstances, study abroad fees are not the place to look. At a university where an entire school is dedicated to the study of foreign service, overseas study falls naturally into the curriculum. The University should be encouraging study abroad in any way possible, not reducing incentives for students to go.

The fee increase may not only discourage students from studying abroad, it may prevent students from attending Georgetown at all. Those on financial aid will be compensated: Citti said that a large amount of the increased fee will probably go into an expanded financial aid pool. But the students “on the borderline,” who have just enough money to be ineligible for financial aid, will be hit the hardest. Many of these students are already burdened with innumerable loans and studying abroad was one way to reduce the burden. Without that option, those students might have to choose other schools.

Moreover, without the significant discount, even those who can afford Georgetown might decide that studying abroad is no longer worth it. Those students could create an enormous problem for the University. In order to gain approval for the construction of the Southwest Quadrangle, Georgetown had to agree to an enrollment cap imposed by the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustments. If even half of students who would have studied abroad decide to stay, the University will significantly exceed that cap. Unfortunately, the University doesn’t appear to have a plan for dealing with that possibility. “We’re hoping that enough students will go abroad,” Citti said.

The University should further intensify its efforts to attract alumni donations and it should work harder to cut operating costs and invest what money it has wisely. But it should leave its incredibly successful study abroad program alone.


Voice Staff
The staff of The Georgetown Voice.


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