The 19 Biggest Study Abroad Mistakes e-report is available for download. The 8th Biggest Mistake is “Paying Too Much for Study Abroad” and we can tell you, many AmeriSpan students are paying too much and non-AmeriSpan students are paying prices that are as much as $3,000 higher, why because those organizations are greedy plus many have exorbitant fees, non-refundable deposits, etc.
So let’s first look at AmeriSpan prices. People should never pay higher prices or fees with AmeriSpan, our prices and fees are kept low but if you spot something that seems higher, we have the Price Guarantee and Foreign Currency Guarantee. But that isn’t the main problem. The problem is people don’t take advantage of our special offers or Friends of AmeriSpan discounts.
We have never seen things like this before. Program providers are contacting us, asking us to offer discounts and specials. In the past, we would usually ask providers “can you please offer some discounts”. We have specials on internships, SALUD Medical Spanish/Portuguese programs and many programs, including every program in Europe.
The other study abroad organizations, don’t get us started. They are ripping you off! College Study Abroad programs are the biggest culprits. First, some are charging as much as $3,500 higher than the same program at the same university with AmeriSpan. Our programs are at the same universities and include excursions and activities. Take a look at a Fee comparison for Costa Rica. There is no reason to work with those providers because you still go to the same school so if your college approves transfer credit and financial aid for that foreign university, it should be approved for AmeriSpan, as well. Secondly, they charge all kinds of extra fees and deposits. We charge a $200 deposit and any housing deposits, we pay out of your tuition. Click to see a Competitive comparison.
Non-profit volunteer providers are some other bad guys, not all but some are taking advantage of you because of your good nature. They charge as much as 4 times what we charge. Our program costs $800, their programs $3200-$3600. If you are paying 4 times the price, your tax credit of 10-15% gets you down to paying 3 times as much money. Then they are collecting donations from you where as little as 30 cents on the dollar gets to the people in need. If you want to make donations, figure out how you can donate directly to the organizations in the country where you volunteered. Now there are many excellent non-profits and those are not charging exorbitant fees. Take a look here to see two bad and one good volunteer non-profit organizations.
So what are these organizations doing with the extra fees? We honestly don’t know.
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