The Study Abroad office has finalized the list of study abroad options, now totaling 211 programs, down from more than 5,000 a year ago. The verdict is in – students’ freedom of choice comes second to University finances.

This policy, which forces all students wishing to receive study abroad credit to travel through affiliated programs, is unacceptable and students and parents should be furious. The average actual cost of the affiliated study abroad programs is between $7,000 and $10,000 and many unaffiliated programs cost even less, but GW will force students to pay full GW tuition, about $14,000. There is still no acceptable rationale being offered as to why GW must make money, sometimes upwards of $6,000 per person, from students in foreign countries.

We are vehemently opposed to this policy and do not buy the administrative line that most of the extra money will go back into study abroad programs. Even if it were true, there is no need for extra funding for the University to create miniature GWs around the world – this is precisely why students go abroad, to get away from GW life.

University officials contend some of the extra revenue will go to setting up scholarships for students to study abroad. They fail to realize many students would not need financial aid if they were allowed to study abroad through cheaper unaffiliated programs. The University should stop attributing the policy change to scholarship and program costs; it should be honest in its pursuit to generate more revenue in the face of a financial pinch.

The University’s debt has doubled in the past five years to more than $600 million and administrators have recently told professors GW has postponed annual salary raises, citing curtailed endowment spending. Faced with this financial reality, the University is seeking all available revenue, including forcing students to pay needless study abroad fees. If the University really wants students to believe the money is mainly for study abroad purposes, it should provide full disclosure of the study abroad budget and how the office will use new funds.

The study abroad office has also finalized the petition process to study through unaffiliated programs. As expected, the process is incredibly rigorous and inconvenient. The petitioner must make an argument as to why a particular program meets a “specific academic, linguistic or cultural need” that cannot be met by one the GW affiliated programs. A Study Abroad Advisory Group must then approve the program.

What may be even more remarkable than the University’s egregious policy is that students are just rolling over and taking it. This is indicative of the complacent attitude of GW students. Students should be aggressively opposing a policy that restricts their academic freedom and grossly overcharges them for studying abroad.