letter to the editor

Study abroad pricing

To the Editor:

I would like to respond to the April 5 news story and the April 12 editorial on study abroad pricing. While I did say that the new system would simplify administrative procedures, I also emphasized that this was not the primary reason for the change. I explained that the primary reason was to make study abroad options more affordable for most students by:

* Making tuition for all programs the same as on-campus tuition, without exception.

* Making room and board rates comparable to on-campus rates, with some variation to reflect the different costs of some programs.

* Extending eligibility for university-funded financial aid to students in study abroad programs operated by or affiliated with Santa Clara.

* Eliminating the study abroad fee of $500 for one quarter or $800 for a year-long program.

* Continuing to allow students to earn a semester's worth of academic credit abroad for a quarter's worth of tuition -- a real bargain.

The editorial expressed concern that a single tuition rate for all study abroad programs does not reflect differences in actual costs of programs. This situation is no different from on-campus tuition. The cost of providing a program in engineering or the sciences can differ greatly from the cost of providing one in the humanities or social sciences. Santa Clara, like most universities, charges one tuition rate so that price does not determine opportunity to choose a particular major.

I wish the new pricing structure could have been announced earlier but believe that the new system makes Santa Clara one of the best universities in the country in terms of the variety and overall pricing of its study abroad opportunities.

Don Dodson

Vice Provost for Academic Affairs