Georgetown’s new study abroad policy is a clever move for the University. The Office of International Programs (OIP) has found a way to squeeze every last penny it can out of Georgetown students. Under the old policy, students were charged the costs of programs abroad plus a $3,000 fee to transfer their credits. Under the new system, the programs will be free but the students will have to pay regular Georgetown tuition. This new system is fleecing students and making programs in developing countries less attractive.
Programs in developing countries often cost less and are less acadmeically rigorous than Georgetown. When a program that would cost just $8,000 for any other student, like the program in Hyderabad, India, costs $15,000 for a Georgetown student working with OIP, where is the fairness?
Taking a leave of absence or transferring abroad are not reliable options. Dr. Michael Vande Berg, Director of OIP, says that credits obtained while taking a leave of absence do not count towards a Georgetown degree and that Georgetown is a competitive school with no specific preference towards transfer applications from returning Georgetown students. You may not get back in, remaining in study abroad limbo forever. The OIP has a monopoly on study abroad at Georgetown.
The inflated price means that students who could previously sacrifice a semester of academic experience for a semester of worldly experience now face an exorbitantly expensive trade-off. Students will be forced to seek institutions where they will receive as high-quality an academic education as possible, rather than a valuable cultural experience, just to justify the price. Programs in developing countries will be ignored, reducing the diversity of the Georgetown experience.
Vande Berg estimates that the average increase in overall price is not likely to be more than $3,000. Unfortunately, this averaged figure hides the massive price increase for programs in developing countries. To be sure, the figure also masks lower prices for some high-end programs. Nonetheless, this increase is unfair and detrimental to student experiences abroad.
If students care about these experiences and recognize this abuse, maybe it’s time we do something about it.
