What Study Abroad Means to Students Amid Changes to CGE
By Ava Burchell, Staff Writer
Assistant Director of the Center for Global Education (CGE) Bekah Hurwitz ’19 talks with a student in the CGE office (Photo Sofia Gutierrez/The Gettysburgian)
At Gettysburg College, studying abroad is an integral part of the student experience. About 50 percent of the student population spends a semester abroad. Not only is studying abroad required or “very strongly encouraged” for certain majors like German and French, but it is also an experience like no other.
German Studies Associate Professor Kerry Wallach said, “Study abroad provides access to a unique set of opportunities that simply cannot be replicated on a college campus in the United States.”
“The idea is that becoming more fluent in a foreign language will unlock access to more literary works, films, and other cultural texts in that language. In other words: studying abroad opens the door to a deeper understanding of another culture,” said Wallach.
Kayla Ellis ’23 spent two semesters abroad, one in Athens, Greece, and one in Aix-en-Provence, France.
“Both semesters have been incredible. I’ve really loved living independently in a new city. Learning new languages and cultures has been a fun challenge that only makes me want to travel more,” said Ellis.
If a student is contemplating going abroad, they are encouraged to speak with the Center for Global Education (CGE) where they will discuss their study abroad plan, work through applications, and communicate about the financial aspects of studying abroad.
Assistant Director of the CGE Bekah Hurwitz ’19 said, “In general, the way that the billing works is what we call a home-school financial model, so students pay the same tuition that they pay when they go to Gettysburg, and then they pay what’s called a global study fee. That fee is about the same as room and board, so it covers your board and additional administrative fees like all the orientation activities.”
Due to this home-school model, scholarships, loans, and grants from Gettysburg and federal aid still apply to students when they are abroad, making global education more accessible to all students. In addition, students are not on their own when paying for flights, visas, and program deposits. Some of these things are credited back to students or students can apply for scholarships.
“One of the [scholarships] that our students most primarily use are our internal CGE scholarships, and these are funds that have been given to us by generous donors, alumni, and friends of the college. Students can request up to 1,000 dollars to cover the cost of a variety of things,” said Hurwitz. “As long as students are able to kind of justify how those funds will help support their global study experience, they can request money for that.”
Students are also encouraged to apply for external scholarships like the Boren Scholarship through the Department of Defense or the Gilman Scholarship through the Department of State.
Some students take matters into their own hands to find financial help for their study abroad experiences. For example, Daisha Quezada ’24 created a GoFundMe page to support her in her travels to Salamanca, Spain.
“I decided to create a GoFundMe in hopes of raising money as well as support to sustain me abroad and potentially travel while I’m there or just to pay off the fees that I needed to pay for my program,” said Quezada.
She anticipates using the money she raises for her flight, visa, travel to other European countries, and emergency funds.
When asked about the future of the CGE, Hurwitz explained that the office is looking to expand its array of domestic programs.
“The student body on campus will notice that we very much try to emphasize that we’re the Center for Global Education, we are not study abroad, and so that also means US domestic programs in terms of access for all students, but especially thinking about DACA students and things like that. So one thing that we’re really trying to work on is bolstering these domestic programs. We have the Lutheran College, Washington, D.C. program, which is fabulous,” said Hurwitz.
The mission of CGE is to make global education equitable for students. The increase in domestic programs and the home-school payment model are ways the office supports students in choosing the program that best fits their academic interests, not what works best for their citizenship status of financial situation.
However, according to Interim Director of CGE Jesse Phillips, some new changes are going into effect starting with the class of 2027. Students will only be able to study abroad for one semester and flight vouchers will be need-based.
Molly Weidner ’23, who studied abroad in South Korea, shared how making flight vouchers need-based may deter some students from studying abroad.
“Gettysburg’s choice to only give certain people money could turn people away from studying abroad because it’s very expensive,” noted Weidner. “Just because students don’t necessarily appear to need a flight voucher based on their family’s income doesn’t mean they actually don’t. They could be in a situation where they are paying for the study abroad from their own savings, rather than their parents paying for it, so they may actually need that flight voucher.”
Wallach explained that this change may cause issues for students who are double-majoring in two languages, given the requirement of studying abroad for some language majors.
“In the future, it may become difficult for students to double major in two languages, and it may be impossible for them to do two different semesters abroad,” said Wallach.
Ellis, who came to Gettysburg because of the opportunity to study abroad in two different countries, noted her unhappiness with these changes.
“The school is making a huge mistake by barring eager students from being able to spend two semesters learning a new language, culture, and way of life. For a school that brags [about] having a large global community, I’m disappointed that they felt like the only way to run the study abroad office is to stop students from chasing opportunities like this,” said Ellis. “Not many people in the world are lucky enough to have the opportunity to live in different countries throughout their lives, especially while they’re young, and can really appreciate the value of their time abroad.”
Ellis continued by explaining how the change altered her perception of Gettysburg College. “This new rule impacts how I view the intentions of Gettysburg College. If the administration is dedicated to educating and helping their students, there is no reason for this rule,” she said.
This article originally appeared on pages 16–17 of the December 2022 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
