With the economic downturn hitting harder than ever, Miami University students are finding it more and more difficult to afford studying abroad.
Although Miami offers a multitude of study abroad options, some programs are seeing a lack of students and a lack of scholarship money.
According to the Office of International Education's Web site, some Miami scholarships cannot be used for summer programs, but federal financial assistance can be applied to all programs.
The Summer School in Italy program, an English-oriented trip to Florence, has not had scholarships available since it was started 20 years ago, according to Mark Bernheim, program director.
"Study abroad is a luxury," Bernheim said.
The Florence program has seen a drop of about 10 students for summer 2009. Bernheim said the program usually accepts 50 to 60 students, yet this year the program has about 40 applicants.
"Many people spoke to me last fall, but were unable to go because of money," Bernheim said.
Kosova 2009, a trip aimed at journalism and mass communication majors, has also seen the effects of the struggling economy, according to director Ed Arnone.
Arnone said numbers for the trip are intentionally kept low due to the nature of the program, but the program currently has some empty spaces because of students' inability to commit the financial resources.
"I've dealt with a few more students this time who couldn't get money," Arnone said. "We try to keep the cost as reasonable as we can."
Michael Bailey-Van Kuren, director of the Armstrong Interactive: Dublin program for Interactive Media Studies students, has not seen the same problem with his program. In fact, he said smaller study abroad programs such as the Dublin trip have not seen a dramatic loss of students.
Miami's summer Luxembourg program is also not seeing a lack of student commitment this year, according to Luxembourg coordinator Cordelia Stroinigg. Stroinigg said the 40-year-old program has seen excellent numbers for summer 2009 despite the economic difficulties.
Although the numbers remain strong, Bailey-Van Kuren said smaller summer programs still have almost no access to scholarships for students who need financial aid and Stroinigg added the Luxembourg program stands to lose a large amount of scholarship money.
"There is considerably less money for scholarships," Stroinigg said.
Stroinigg said some endowed scholarships could be decreased by as much as 50 percent. First-year Sarah Bradford is planning to study in Luxembourg for the spring 2010 term. She said she will continue her plans despite the economic troubles.
"It's the same tuition," Bradford said. "I'm paying nearly the same over there as I am right here."
