Colleges Ship Freshmen to Paris to Boost Tuition Coffers

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) U.S. colleges including New York University and Northeastern University are pushing freshmen into study-abroad programs -- before the students even set foot on campus -- to enroll larger classes and get more tuition dollars.

NYU and Boston-based Northeastern, which both charge more than $50,000 a year to attend, make some freshmen spend the first semester or two abroad. They then use the students and their tuitions to fill the beds of midyear dropouts and upper classmen heading overseas. While some students find the opportunity rewarding, others are disoriented at not starting off with their class or having a choice.

“Most students are not going to accept this right off the bat,” said Bev Taylor, a New York-based college admission consultant. “What they envisioned was graduating, going to college and being enmeshed in college life.”

While foreign study has been a hallmark of junior year, many freshmen respond to strings-attached acceptances with disappointment and concern, Taylor said. Students often find themselves paying travel costs atop already hefty tuitions. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-24/colleges-ship-freshmen-to-paris-to-boost-tuition-coffers.html

[Buzz Clik]

1. Sad.

Referring to the slots left behind by juniors going abroad as "beds"?

If this is truly what a few colleges and universities are doing, it is bizarre. It is also a sad commentary on their financial condition that they would elect to do something this strange and this complicated.

[Nikia]

2. I think that prospective college students should be aware of programs like this

In making their college decisions. If there is a chance that they will have mandatory study abroad their first semester and they don't want that, they should choose a different college. That said, I don't think that it is very beneficial to have mandatory study abroad for first semester students. It is better for freshmen if they start as a class on campus to become part of the college community right away. If there is study abroad or other off campus study for first semester freshman, it should be an optional special program for students who have that interest and plan to pay for the extra expense.