by Tatyana Phelps

The cost of not studying abroad may be even more costly than the money that comes out of your pocket for a school trip to a foreign country.

VSU offers several study abroad trips each year, with a wide variety of courses and programs. Although studying abroad can be a bit expensive, research shows that students who study abroad gain tons of career experience, cultural experience, and tend to be more employable.

90 percent of employers believe that students who have studied in another country are more likely to possess skills such as cross-cultural communication skills and cultural awareness, which are some of the most important traits to employers, according to data from

Frontiers Journal and Amerispan that was featured in a Course Hero infographic.

Kenneth Buff, a middle school teacher assistant, once studied abroad in
Europe during his undergraduate college career.

“It’s difficult to ignore the fact that studying abroad comes at a very real price,” Buff said in a New York Times article. “But it’s a price that can be measured both by money and by experience. The economic price, the price of the airfare and transportation, the room, the food and the tuition cost, will vary from program to program.

“But the cost of not going is the same for every trip; it lowers the chances of success in the ever-globalizing world that we live in – a world where bilingual is the international norm, and where multiculturalism is becoming the standard of our country,” Buff said.

Dr. Cristobal Serran-Pagan is teaching world religions and Spanish mysticism to a group of students from all over Georgia during VSU’s Madrid, Spain, study abroad program this summer from July 2 to Aug. 7.
Students who go will have the opportunity to take classes in beginning, intermediate and advanced level Spanish as well as introductory and/or upper level classes in anthropology, art, English, music, or religion.

In an email sent out to all VSU students, Serran-Pagan said that the cost of this trip is the lowest it has been in 11 years.

“(Studying abroad) expands your horizons and education about other cultures,” Serran-Pagan said.

According to VSU’s fee schedule for undergraduates, a traditional three-hour course at VSU costs about $510. However, students don’t only pay for a class; they also pay several other fees, and they pay either for rent or for their residence hall. Overall, the average full-time student ends up paying around $6,000 for one semester, which is between 15 and 16 weeks.

On the other hand, the trip to Madrid costs $5,495 for a five-week program, which includes airfare, transportation, housing, food, and excursions. However, tuition, textbooks, extra meals, entrance fees, weekend travel expenses, passport and related expenses, spending money and miscellaneous costs are not included in this.

Serran-Pagan said that although a downside to study abroad is its financial expense, there are definitely more positives.

“(Students get) hands-on experiences, plenty of field trips, research, learning about new languages and new cultures, networking with new groups of friends that you meet in these trips, etc.,” Serran-Pagan said. “Not only can you take credits while you are studying abroad, but you are learning new languages which shows that you can adapt to different cultures and you can adopt a more global vision of the world in which we live.

“Many companies are looking for this type of profile in a graduate student. It is good for the C.V., for your personal career, and for your personal education,” Serran-Pagan said.

Studying abroad also has a big impact on students’ career plans.

According to the Course Hero infographic, 35 percent of students who studied abroad made a notable difference in their career plans; 27 percent made a moderate difference; 20 percent made a significant difference and 14 percent made a minor difference. Course Hero also notes that the main difference made in students’ career plans is the desire to work in a different country.

Gabrielle Rodriguez, senior criminal justice major, learned much more than psychology during her study abroad trip in Czech Republic.

“I gained how to be a lot more independent and responsible,” Rodriguez said. “It was a real learning experience about life, in another part of the world. The only negative was that the trip was too short — 28 days — but other than that, the study abroad was great.”
Rodriguez feels that taking a class abroad outweighs taking a regular semester-long course.

“It was very easy to get the credit,” Rodriguez said. “The classes were two to three hours long, but to have it knocked out in four weeks was worth it. If I took a normal class, I would be stressed so much, but taking it in a different country meant that the classes involved more hands-on experiences and we never used a text book once.”

Joshua Binns, junior biology major, studied Spanish in Ecuador in Summer 2014.

“I was actually immersed in the culture and learned more being put in that situation,” Binns said. “The negatives were the first few days, because no one spoke any English.”