"It started off as a very elitist program," Director of Study Abroad J. Scott Van Der Meid, said of the new payment method for going abroad. "Now, the driving force is an equity issue, and it is somewhat a necessity in today's economy."In 1997, the Justice ran an article about a proposal to revamp study abroad financing, applying Brandeis tuition to foreign university costs. The beneficiaries of this policy would be those students receiving Brandeis need-based or merit-based aid who want to study in Europe, Africa, South or East Asia and Australia. Many others, however, would face a greater financial burden in covering study abroad expenses.

The proposal was not supposed to take effect immediately and was scheduled at the earliest for the class of 2002. Now, it will not take effect until next fall.

"Some of the delay on these things is the inevitable results of more critical issues," Executive Assistant to the President John Hose said about the new dates for the new cost-paying system to begin.

"It is still in the process of being worked through. New issues keep arising, and they need to be handled. That is why it is set for next fall," Director of Student Financial Services Peter Giumette said in response to the postponement.

In 1997, a survey done by the Justice, along with Giumette and then Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Jennifer Ely showed that most students would be paying more money to go abroad under the new policy. Why might this be?

As explained by Van Der Meid, students will pay only Brandeis tuition, not room and board. That money will go to the school they are attending abroad. If the school happens to be more expensive than Brandeis, students pay only Brandeis tuition; if the school abroad is less expensive than Brandeis, students still pay full Brandeis tuition.

According to the Web site for the study abroad office, "Under current policy Brandeis institutional financial aid can not be applied to an overseas study program. However, students may use federal financial aid, including Stafford Loans and Pell Grants."

With the new system in place, students on other types of financial aid, such as grants, school loans and scholarships, are having their aid transferred to their respective destinations. Since they will only be paying Brandeis tuition, the different forms of aid will be applied to their time abroad.

"Under the new policy, students approved to study abroad will pay Brandeis tuition and certain fees, thereby maintaining their status as currently enrolled students, and as such, the Brandeis financial aid for which they are eligible will be portable," according to the Study Abroad Web site.

According to Giumette, there are few scholarships available for study abroad, and this new system will help those who couldn't afford it normally.

"What happens is that from those schools that cost less than Brandeis tuition, the students who pay in full will have the excess money filtered back through the financial aid office and over to the students on financial aid, so they have an equal chance to go abroad as well," Meid said.

Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs and First Year Services (UAAFYS) Michele Rosenthal said she is pleased this new system will be in place.

"Study abroad has not been open to students who couldn't have financial aid transferred, and now it is."

"Foremost, equity for all students enables them to participate in equal study abroad options," Hose said. "Where aid and financial aid did not have much of an issue."

Hose predicts three kinds of reactions to the new payment plan. The first is that students will simply not participate. The second is that they will participate and will look for more expensive schools so that they end up paying less than they normally would under the old system. The third possibility is that they will participate, but lose money.

Rachel Katz '05 will be among the last students to travel under the old method of payment. "The current system works better for me because i'm not on any scholarships, so I don't have to worry about scholarship money not transferring over. It's cheaper for me to just pay the program tuition without having to pay Brandeis first," she said.

"No matter what the options are, someone is going to be upset. That's just how things happen," Giumette said. "But they should feel good about helping their classmates, who are on aid, have the option to go abroad."

Van Der Meid said that a lot of peer institutions have begun this new system.

"This policy has been adopted by many of our peer institutions in recent years and will make the study abroad experience more accessible to all Brandeis students, regardless of their or their families' financial circumstances and ability to pay," the Web site reads.

The study abroad director mentioned Smith, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and Wesleyan, as schools that have been doing study abroad this way for some time, and he said some of the Ivy League schools and others within the New England area are looking into it. He said he couldn't name many of them because they are still in the process of figuring out how to organize and set up the payment system.

Additionally, Van Der Meid mentioned the new International and Global Studies (IGS) major, which requires a study abroad or foreign internship experience as part of fulfilling the major requirements. Since this is a part of the major, UAAFYS does not want each student's experience to be based on money issues. Because of this new payment plan, students who need to go abroad, like the IGS major stipulates, but previously couldn't afford to do so, now have the opportunity.

There are a few instances where scholarships and certain programs are not covered under the new system. Three scholarships, according to the study abroad Web site, will not be applied to study abroad because they were meant to bring international students over to Brandeis rather than sending them away. Those three are the Malkin, Slifka and Wien Scholarships.

The new policy will also not cover summer sessions abroad. The payment plan will cover the four approved U.S. programs, including Boston University's Washington Internship Program and Columbia's Biosphere II Center.

The committee that originally proposed this policy change also reevaluated credit transfers and how those credits help make the student's abroad experience more academic and less indulgent.

"Over the past four years Brandeis has sent anywhere from 20 to 25 percent of the junior class abroad. I have not yet done the final percentages for this year as students don't formally confirm if they will study abroad or not until early December, but can tell you that, roughly speaking, there is a slight decrease in the number of students applying to study abroad this year," Van Der Meid said.

"Petitions to study abroad fluctuate each semester and year based on many factors. These factors may include, but are not limited to class size, world events, the global economy, student interest, faculty support, research goals, etc." Van Der Meid said, "Up until now, financial aid was also a factor, but hopefully it will not be now."

Popular places to go abroad include the UK, Spain, Australia, Israel, Scotland, France, South Africa and Cuba.