A lawsuit that challenges the policy of Wheaton College, in Massachusetts, to charge its regular tuition to students studying abroad on less-costly independent programs is the latest sign of scrutiny into the finances of overseas education.
In the suit, which was filed this month, James P. Brady, father of a recent Wheaton alumna, accuses the private liberal-arts college of “unfair and deceptive” billing practices for charging full tuition, plus room and board, for a semester his daughter spent studying in South Africa in 2006. The program, offered by the School for International Training, an outside provider, cost about $17,000, according to the complaint, while Wheaton’s per-semester costs at the time were about $21,440.
Mr. Brady, a lawyer, seeks a declaratory judgment that would upend the longstanding practice at Wheaton, and potentially at other colleges, of charging “home school” tuition for credits earned through programs offered by outside providers.
Popularity Brings Scrutiny
The lawsuit comes amid other growing pains for study-abroad programs. Last summer, New York’s attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, opened an investigation into colleges’ relationships with companies that provide overseas programs, and Connecticut’s attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, has joined the inquiry. Mr. Cuomo seeks information about a variety of financial practices, including whether overseas-education providers bill students or their home colleges for program costs, whether colleges charge administrative fees related to study abroad, and, if they do, whether they disclose such costs.
As foreign study expands in popularity and prestige, many observers say colleges need to do a better job of explaining their policies to students and their parents.
“Study abroad has gone from being boutique to a mainstay,” says Carl A. Herrin, an independent international-education consultant. “In the current situation, we’re definitely under the microscope.”
In the Wheaton case, Mr. Brady says he discovered the nearly $4,440 discrepancy between Wheaton’s costs and those charged by the School for International Training shortly before his daughter, Jennifer Bombasaro-Brady, left for a semester in Durban, South Africa. He says he complained to Wheaton officials but was “stonewalled.” A week after she graduated, he filed suit, arguing that Wheaton officials had not provided any services to his daughter in exchange for tuition.
“Their predatory attitude,” he says, “made me feel that I had no choice.”
Although Mr. Brady’s lawsuit is believed to be the first of its kind, he is not the only parent to go public with his objections to the practice of charging the home institution’s tuition for credits earned overseas. Last year Emory University found itself under criticism when a father — who was also assistant vice chancellor for international programs for the University System of Georgia — complained that his son had been denied academic credit when he took a leave of absence and enrolled in an overseas-study program not approved by the university. Another student who attended the same overseas institution, but went through Emory and paid a full semester of home tuition, was awarded credit.
Call for Openness
Many study-abroad experts acknowledge the frustrations felt by parents like Mr. Brady and say colleges should disclose and clearly explain their policies to students and their families. The Forum on Education Abroad, a consortium of American and overseas colleges and independent providers, is expected to issue guidelines next month that emphasize such openness.
For their part, Wheaton officials say the tuition policy is stated online and in program materials. In a letter to students and faculty and staff members, Ronald A. Crutcher, the president, defends the college’s practice. He says that charging home-school tuition while providing financial aid “puts study-abroad opportunities in reach for many more of our students.”
Mr. Crutcher also pointed out that many other colleges have similar policies in place. In fact, a survey on program management conducted last fall by the Forum on Education Abroad found that 47 percent of institutions require their students to pay home-school tuition.
Not all colleges have moved in that direction. Duke University, for example, considered such a policy in 2000 but rejected it. Margaret Riley, associate dean for study abroad, said Duke officials agreed that it was unfair to charge students a premium to transfer academic credits from overseas institutions when the university did not make students pay for other outside credits, such as those earned in high-school Advanced Placement courses.
Still, more colleges have moved toward charging home-school tuition for outside programs to help underwrite the costs they incur in such programs, says Brian J. Whalen, president of the Forum on Education Abroad. In addition to defraying some of the expense of financial aid, the funds are used to evaluate the independent programs, to respond to overseas emergencies, and to absorb costs related to keeping students enrolled even when they are abroad, he says.
Overseas-study costs also are often bound up in broader tuition debates, particularly at private institutions, where tuition and financial aid are closely linked. “It’s a complex financial algorithm” decided by vice presidents of finance, not study-abroad directors, says JoAnn S. McCarthy, who recently stepped down as assistant provost for international affairs at the University of Pennsylvania and now works as a private consultant.
http://chronicle.com Section: International Volume 54, Issue 24, Page A20
