Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The KU Study Abroad program is not growing as quickly as it used to, partly because of the weak U.S. dollar, which has made necessities such as food and transportation more expensive for students.
Susan Gronbeck-Tedesco, director of the Office of Study Abroad, said the weak dollar had caused a noticeable decline in study abroad interest.
“Summer 2008 enrollment is up just 0.6 percent over summer 2007. Normally, we would expect a greater increase.”
According to the KU Office of Study Abroad, participation in the program grew at an average of 8 percent each year from 2004 to 2007.
While the basic cost of enrollment in study abroad programs has not changed drastically, the dollar’s weak exchange rate has raised the cost of overseas goods in comparison to domestic items. As of Monday, one euro was worth $1.56, meaning the dollar has depreciated by about 20 cents in the past year.
Jordan Kallas, a 2008 graduate who studied abroad in Australia last year, said the cost of food made his trip more expensive than expected.
“I’m still recovering from the trip, and it was a year ago,” Kallas said.
John Keating, professor of economics, said that the exchange rate usually levels out in the long-run, but could be unpredictable in the near future — a bad sign for students planning summer or fall travel.
“When the value of the dollar goes down your dollars aren’t going to buy as much foreign currency,” Keating said. “The consequence is a much bigger cost of living. It’s got to be painful to go overseas right now.”
In a national poll conducted last spring by the Institute of International Education, 43 percent of students said they had changed their travel plans because of the weakening dollar. Institute president Allen Goodman said studying abroad could be affordable if students altered their approach.
“Students should look for destinations like India or Southeast Asia, where their dollar will go further,” Goodman said. “There are a lot of ways to make it work.”
Because of students like Kallas, who said his trip was worth the financial strain, studying abroad — expensive as it may be — has not gone out of style. According to the Institute of International Education, more than 2,000 students from the state of Kansas studied abroad last year.
“You want to travel when you study abroad,” Kallas said. “You want to make the most of the trip, and that means spending money.”
—Edited by Rustin Dodd
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