While some programs, such as the German FSP, give students cash to pay for meals, others, like the Paris FSP this past winter, have a different billing system that left students wondering what had happened to the lunch money they were promised.
John Tansey, the executive director of the Office of Off-Campus Programs, said that the payment system for FSPs and LSAs varies depending on the destination.
"We estimate the total cost for room and board, but how it's paid for varies," Tansey said. "In some areas we pay maybe for just the room and students are advised that they are responsible for paying their own meals. When Dartmouth pays for the room we place that charge on their student account and if they are paying for their meals on their own we advise them to bring money."
He added that in some cases students pay for only a portion of the meals themselves and others are covered on the general bill. This distinction between pre-billed funds versus cash expenses led to confusion on this winter's Paris FSP.
Tansey said that in the past, students received money for lunches in cash, which was added to their general bill and then distributed by the trip director. He added that the amount of cash the directors were managing was increasingly onerous.
"The amounts became rather large, around $1,000, and it was a lot of money for the directors to be handling," Tansey said. "At that time it would make more sense not to bill the students and then hand it back to them, but advise them to budget it themselves."
Liz Kolleeny '08, who recently returned from the Paris FSP, said that students were told that they would receive cash distributed by the directors to cover the costs of their lunches.
Although she said she was surprised that they did not receive the funds they had been promised, Kolleeny added that as soon as she told her host family about the missing lunch money, they helped make sure she was taken care of.
Tansey said that the confusion regarding the money on the Paris FSP was a result of dated information. He stressed, however, that his office later clarified the distinction between the past and present systems.
The cost of living has also been an issue for students participating in other programs, namely the four FSPs in London: history, theater, government and music. Tansey attributed the rise in the cost of the European programs to the weakness of the U.S. dollar versus the Euro and British pound.
Tansey said that despite the shift in the European programs' costs over the years, the Office of Off-Campus Programs has striven to maintain some degree of continuity.
"The College has been committed to offering a similar experience to students on a given program from one year to the next despite the loss in the value of the dollar and resulting cost increases," Tansey said. "This has meant that the College has significantly increased budgetary support for off-campus programs over each of the past few years in order to cover program costs, excursions, etc." Tansey said that although many off-campus programs can be more costly than a regular term on campus in Hanover, he pushes all students to apply for them.
"I hope that students apply for programs regardless of whether they have concerns about money," Tansey said. "Dartmouth is need-blind in terms of financial aid and that includes financial support of programs. I encourage all students to apply and then work with our office and the financial aid office."
