Author: Sarah Corsa
When I walked up to one of the tables at the Summer Abroad Fair last month, the first question the representative asked me was, “Well, where would you like to go?” I felt there were many more details to consider before making the decision to go abroad. For many students, traveling over the summer is not as easy as opening up a map and choosing a location on a whim. The questions that plague daydreams of jet setting around the world over the four month vacation are more like, “How will I pay for this? If the program doesn’t last the entire summer, would I be able to get a job during the time I was home? Where can I find scholarship opportunities through our school and outside sources?” Unfortunately, Occidental does not fully subsidize summer abroad trips and therefore denies a large demographic many opportunities.
Occidental appears generous and accommodating to a range of income levels when they advertise the distribution of recently acquired summer travel funds. Their website states that grants may range from $500 to $3,000. While it sounds like a student may have hit the jackpot if granted $3,000, realistically the maximum award would not cover half of a six-week trip abroad.
One of the most touted summer abroad programs has been SIT Study Abroad. Along with semester abroad programs, SIT offers 11 different summer programs around the world on topics ranging from renewable energy to traditional Chinese medicine. For example, the program in Geneva, Switzerland emphasizes international studies and multilateral diplomacy. With the $7,090 tuition cost, $2,040 for room and board and an additional $1,000 or more for airfare, the total cost for the summer in Switzerland may reach upwards of $10,000 for the six-week duration. If the student received $3,000 from Occidental, the cost of the program is only reduced to $7,000 – still far too great a burden for many families to manage.
Applying for outside scholarships is encouraged throughout Occidental’s summer abroad website and brochures. In fact, SIT advertises that 80 percent of scholarship applicants are awarded funds ranging anywhere from $500 to $5,000 (predominantly based upon financial need). Therefore, the cost could be lowered to a more manageable $2,000 if and only if one received the maximum $3,000 from Occidental and the maximum $5,000 from SIT. Even these amounts could be intimidating when compared to an academic year’s tuition to attend Occidental.
Lack of funding aside, notifying students who are dependent on grants and scholarships is a pitfall in the summer abroad program. On its website, the IPO advertises that they will notify students about any summer grants shortly after April 20. Students must go through the effort of applying and potentially paying large deposits to the chosen program long before finding out if Occidental will help at all with the cost. All may be for naught if students don’t receive the funding to leave the country.
The summer abroad experience then becomes unrealistic for many students. The mythical pool of money seems far from tangible or within reach. If Occidental wants to champion its diversity – including socioeconomic diversity –programs need to become accessible for students from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. The school must put equal effort into helping finance a trip abroad as they do in advertising the experience itself. For instance, more information and guidance about how financial aid is determined and what resources are available would be fully embraced by the student body.
College is the prime time to travel since students are not yet inundated with real world commitments. Most students likely haven’t faced the realities of bills, debt and full time jobs with little vacation time. Yet here at Occidental, students see opportunities for summer travel dangled in their faces, just out of reach. If the process were altered so that funds were accessible earlier in the year, travelling over the summer would be a possibility for a wider range of students.
Sarah Corsa is an undeclared first-year. She can be reached at corsa@oxy.edu.
This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.
