05/14/08 - Weak Dollar Crimps Study Abroad

The Wall Street Journal
By KELLY EVANS and SARA MURRAY
May 14, 2008; Page D1

Wilmer Gutierrez, a 21-year-old junior at Goucher College in Baltimore, had hoped to go to Denmark next fall to study European politics. But the weak dollar has prompted a change of plan: Now, he will head to Argentina to study the Latin American political system.

With the greenback down 20% against the Danish krone and up 4% against the Argentine peso in the past two years, Mr. Gutierrez says he has little choice but to head south. "It's very frustrating," he says.

Many other college students, hit by sticker shock, also are steering clear of Western Europe, especially the United Kingdom, and opting for study-abroad programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Many of those destinations are cheaper to begin with and have currencies that haven't been as rough on the dollar.

Over the past two years, the dollar, while up a bit from recent lows, has lost more than 20% of its value against the euro and about 6% against the pound. The result: While programs in places like Rome, Paris, Barcelona and London are still at the top of students' lists, enrollment there is slowing. And interest in alternative destinations is surging.

"We're sending an unprecedented number of students on an arts program to Mali" in western Africa, says Eric Singer, Goucher's associate dean of international studies. Other Goucher students, who are required to study abroad in order to graduate, are choosing Ghana, South Africa and other countries that don't use the euro or the pound, he says. If the dollar weakens further, he says, "We'll see even more migration out of Western Europe."

Nearly a quarter of a million students from the U.S. studied abroad for academic credit during the 2005-06 school year, according to the most recent data from the Institute of International Education, a New York-based nonprofit organization that administers study-abroad programs. Each college handles study-abroad programs differently -- some directly host programs in other countries so students pay the same tuition as they would for a semester at home in the U.S. Others allow students to enroll in programs offered by other colleges or by third-party study-abroad providers that enroll them directly in foreign institutions.

Language students often choose their location to become fluent speakers and learn about the culture of a chosen region; others, such as business students, may choose a program that enhances their resume (like China, India, or the Middle East).

Geoffrey Bannister, president and chief academic officer of Cultural Experiences Abroad, a company based in Tempe, Ariz., that runs study-abroad programs, says enrollment in the company's Western Europe programs grew just 8% for next fall, much less than the usual increase of 20% to 25%. Buenos Aires, meanwhile, is getting a lot of interest, he says.

Read this full article at The Wall Street Journal.