Study abroad costs are keeping Texas State students from seeing the world

By: Hannah Emmert
hce6@txstate.edu

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Students at Texas State, while wanting to travel abroad, say they feel it is too expensive to get involved with study abroad programs.

Texas State offers multiple study abroad opportunities for students. Trips have included destinations like Spain, Nicaragua, Japan, and more.

The issue is that these trips cost thousands of dollars, which is difficult for students who are financially unstable.

Pictured: Henry "Tres" Allen III
Photo by: Fouad Ali

Henry “Tres” Allen III, a business finance student, says that cost is a downside to such programs.

“I know a lot of students are on welfare and FAFSA, so they probably can't afford study abroad on top of their student loans,” Allen says.

Even if one had the means to travel, Kaylee Ware, a public relations student, says that she would rather put the money toward other trips, even if it wasn’t for educational purposes.

“[The study abroad program] was, like, $5,000 for two weeks and you could obviously go on trips for cheaper than that,” Ware says.

Pictured: Kaylee Ware
Taken by: Hannah Emmert

Aside from the expenses, students acknowledge the cultural benefits that come from these trips.

Texas State senior Lauren Reese gave her input on why study abroad has its perks. She said that the cultural aspect of studying abroad would be the most beneficial to students. She mentions how she knew of students who learned Spanish while studying abroad because of how much they were immersed into the environment.

Pictured: Lauren Reese
Taken by: Cruz Rojas

“I think you get a lot of outside-of-school knowledge about culture and different ways that people live,” Reese says. “You can pick up things there that you can’t pick up in the classroom.”

Garfield Harrison, a student at Texas State, took a different stance, saying that going on such trips will help with jobs and outside experience.

Pictured: Garfield Harrison
Taken by: Anahi Hernandez-Rico

“You are getting out of your comfort zone. You are being able to be exposed to stuff that you normally wouldn't be exposed to here in America,” Harrison says.

While study abroad gives you the opportunity to get real world experienc

e in your field of study, internships are typically the more expense-friendly option for students.

Texas State pre-medical student Nicholas Ansted started his internship two years ago in high school when his interest in medicine peaked. He hopes the internship will help make him more involved in the field.

Pictured: Nicholas Ansted
Taken by: Fouad Ali

“I'm really interested in the medical field. I want to end up as a doctor so, I figured it's nice to build bridges,” Ansted said.

Pictured: Naomi Wick
Taken by: Hannah Emmert

Naomi Wick, an economics major, said that she has also learned a lot from having an internship, which she does over the winter break. Her job included internet research and creating excel worksheets to input information.

“I had a lot of good experience being in an actual office environment, and it was real world experience,” Wick said. “It was a trial run kind of job.”

For more information on study abroad programs or internship opportunities, visit the Texas State Study Abroad Office or contact the specific college for your major.