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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Go for it!  Although I just want to add a different perspective.  I'm on the board for my college.  Most colleges have realized that the semester or preferably "year abroad" is a money maker for the school.  If the college can urge every student to do it - as we are doing, then you can run five years of students through the campus every four years.  In other words, we can scoop up another full year's worth of tuition x 3,000 students without building more dorms.  And in most situations, deals are struck so that a good portion of the $60K coming in the door for the student is mostly retained by the college or university.  So schools are often not offering this with the best intentions - so investigate the program thoroughly.  If your school is just dumping you in Germany without thought, plan or academic mission, then it's a financial game for the school.  Similarly, we realized we were losing money on room and board because students moved off campus ASAP, so now have a three-year residency requirement in triples and quads.  ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS.  But, otherwise, go for it!  A great opportunity if the college runs the program well.[/quote]

Interesting persective.  I went to a small private liberal arts college and all of my classes abroad counted for credits I needed so I still was able to graduate in 3.5 years despite a semester abroad.  After I graduated, my school did stop off campus housing unless you have "special permission".[/quote]

14:19 back again.  Thanks for posting - you reminded me of something I wanted to say.  I think the era of graduating as you did (early) is long gone.  The trend as you probably know is for kids to take five years or more to graduate.  This used to blamed in the big university system on the inability to sign up for required courses for a major first term, etc., or switching of majors.  But now also in the SLACs the stigma of needing to graduate in four years is long gone so tossing in the year abroad is another way of trying to extend that four year graduation into 4.5 or 5.  I didn't mean to imply in my post above that the year abroad does not get you full credit - it does - so technically the student should be able to return and still graduate in four years but often that doesn't work out that way and colleges often make it difficult on purpose (can't get the right course; am behind on thesis; necessary stats. course isn't offered the term on return -- you get the idea) so often those that do take the year abroad wind up graduating in 4.5 or 5 years.  So that's an additional $60K in the college's purse on top of the $60K it got for the year abroad.  I'm certainly advocating for doing any kind of study abroad - just saying that the student and parent should fully check out exactly what is being offered on the other end because the practice is a racket of sorts.  [/quote]

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