U. refuses to commercialize study abroad program

This summer, officials associated with study abroad programs at several U.S. colleges and universities were revealed to have accepted free trips and other gifts from foreign study providers in exchange for pushing undergraduates toward certain programs.

Companies that organize study abroad programs were documented as offering school administrators trips to visit their overseas campuses, providing office services to campus study abroad offices and giving bonuses and commissions on student-paid fees to school officials, according to an article in The New York Times. Some universities charged students full at-home tuition, paid a fraction of the money to an outside provider or overseas university and then pocketed the difference.

But Princeton officials say the University does not accept such offers, and it does not conduct itself in the manner described by the Times.

"Princeton has no exclusive relationships for study abroad with any provider, nor does the office receive money or perks as a reward for sending students to particular programs," Nancy Kanach, associate dean of the college and director of the study abroad program, said in an email.

Critics say such exclusive relationships with providers limit student options and drive up costs, asserting that some schools require students to use one of several approved providers or agents. Such programs are usually much more expensive than if students simply enrolled in a foreign university, paid tuition to that institution and had their credits transferred to their home school.

Kanach says no such limitations are placed on Princeton students, and that the Study Abroad office is under no pressure to cover its own office expenses or generate revenue through its dealings with an outside provider.

"We are not associated with any one 'study abroad company,' " she said. "We have a list of approved programs [and] universities, but we allow students to petition for credit from other programs and universities not on the approved list."

Caitlin Ludwigsen '09, who is studying abroad in Scotland this semester, said the University "strongly recommended" that she apply through the Institute for Study Abroad at Butler University.

Ludwigsen said that, though she paid more to use the program, it provided additional orientation, support services and weekend trips and meals that outweighed the additional cost.

"I could have managed all of that myself and I could have traveled on my own, but the cost was not dramatically different from applying directly, and it just makes life easier," she said in an email. "They would have let me apply directly if I had wanted to, but they recommended I apply through IFSA, and in the end it seemed like it made sense."

Kanach said that most Princeton students enroll directly in foreign universities, though some use an independent provider or travel abroad through programs organized by other U.S. colleges or universities.

"There are times when a provider can offer advising support that is important if the university that a student is attending has little in the way of infrastructure for a visiting student from abroad," she said. "The fees may be higher than going directly because of the extra services provided, [including] pre-departure advising, a group trip, on-site orientation [and] excursions during the semester."

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Devon Ahearn '09 chose to apply directly to Sciences Po, a university in Paris, through an exchange organized by the Wilson School. Ahearn said she is paying full tuition to Princeton while abroad, and that most of those funds are used to pay her tuition at Sciences Po. The University sent the remainder to her to help offset her living expenses in France.

Last year, 150 Princeton students studied abroad during the academic year, down from a high of 170 students in 2004. Kanach said she hopes to reverse that trend this school year. Nationwide, more than 200,000 American students study abroad each year, an increase of almost 150 percent over the last 10 years.

In the past, Princeton students paid a fee to the overall operating budget of the University, which funds the study abroad program. Kanach said the fee, which had risen to $2,750 last year, was eliminated this year to make study abroad more "attractive and affordable" to students.

The University's upcoming capital campaign will raise $300 million to emphasize "Citizenship and the World," and University administrators have said the money will go toward a number of projects, including the Wilson School, the Office of International Programs, the Study Abroad program and other internationalization initiatives. Kanach said she was not yet aware of specific details regarding the capital campaign's impact on the Study Abroad program.