Members of the class of 2010 and other students entering the University this fall or later will have to pay full Brown tuition for all study abroad programs, according to Kendall Brostuen, director of the Office of International Programs. Tuition will not vary even for those programs managed by institutions other than the University that may charge different tuition fees.
Currently, students studying abroad at Brown-run programs pay the Brown tuition fee, which is $16,944 per semester for the 2006-07 academic year, according to the OIP's Web site. Students enrolled in alternative programs that are approved by the University but managed by a different institution pay tuition directly to that institution and a separate study abroad fee to the University. The study abroad fee for the 2006-07 academic year is $1,822 per semester, according to the OIP's Web site.
Under the new model, however, all students studying abroad will pay the Brown tuition fee. If the program is managed by a different institution, the University will then pay that institution with the student's tuition money.
Brostuen said the change, which was approved by the Brown Corporation, is aimed at encouraging students to base their study abroad decisions on the attributes of a given program rather than its cost.
"We want students to be selecting programs based on academic fit, and this (fee structure) will be facilitating that," he said.
Brostuen added that the rising tuition costs of foreign institutions and the devaluation of the U.S. dollar also makes this "home-school" pricing model more sensible.
Currently, when students enroll in an alternative program that is not managed by Brown, they take a leave of absence from the University. This system creates "bureaucratic friction" for students returning to the University, Brostuen said. Paying Brown tuition means students will not have to take this leave of absence, he added.
The pricing change could significantly raise the cost of studying abroad at some alternative programs. For example, the Institute for the International Education of Students charges an $8,600 tuition fee for students wishing to study abroad in Santiago, Chile this spring - approximately half of Brown tuition fees for one semester.
Chessy Brady '07, who spent Fall 2005 attending the Santiago program, said the change will unfairly charge students enrolled in programs that aren't managed by Brown. The fact that certain programs' tuition fees are significantly lower than Brown tuition reflects differences in quality, she said.
"I think you should be charged for what you're getting. If we're at Brown then we're getting a Brown education, and it's reasonable to pay more," she said. "But if I'm in Chile and getting a Chilean education that's worth less, then I don't want to pay for that."
Had the new pricing structure been in place when she decided to study abroad, Brady said, it would have made her decision more about economics than about other attributes of a given program.
"I probably would have gone somewhere where I thought I was getting my money's worth, not somewhere I really wanted to," she said.
Brostuen noted that some alternative programs, especially those in the United Kingdom, actually charge more than Brown tuition for a semester. Although a student's estimated family contribution - the amount of money a family is expected to contribute to a student's education - does not change when the student goes abroad, the University does not promise any increased aid for more expensive programs, he said.
Under the old system, students wishing to enroll in more expensive programs would have to meet with a financial aid adviser and possibly take out loans to cover the higher cost. Such loans could also cover income potentially lost as a result of a student not holding an on-campus job, according to an OIP handout detailing financial aid policies for students studying abroad.
Under the new policy, the cost of tuition for students - and their level of financial aid - will remain unchanged whether they're abroad or at Brown.
Brostuen said he does not expect the decision to adversely affect prospective students' interest in Brown, noting that several other universities - including the University of Pennsylvania, Smith and Dartmouth colleges and Stanford University - have already established this policy without experiencing a decline in interest from prospective students.
Students who may study abroad in the future had mixed reactions to the change in pricing.
"(It's good) that the student who wants to study abroad (will not be) worrying about the cost of the program," said Joshua Curhan '10. However, Curhan added that "those (students) that might want to go on programs that are less expensive might not appreciate that (change in fees)."
Dan Woolridge '10 said he believes pricing, though a significant factor, would not be the deciding one in his decision to study abroad.
Woolridge said he has thought about "academic eligibility ... and language ability" when researching various study abroad programs.
After considering these factors, "I then would work my way to cost," he added.
