The world is out there, but can you reach it? Photo courtesy of Erik Odiin.

AIDAN HARPER SMITH | OPINION COLUMNIST | ahsmith4@butler.edu 

Picture this: you are a junior — maybe a senior if you aren’t on top of things — in high school and you are visiting a university. One of the main things they’ll tell you — aside from the rush of pure bliss you’ll get from attending this university and giving them all your money — is that you can have the opportunity to study abroad. This was exactly my experience at Butler University. 

With stars in my eyes, I imagined a future full of visiting the Roman Colosseum, swimming with dolphins and somehow learning while doing those better things. All in all, I imagined a future full of promise. 

Studying abroad holds many promises: experiencing a new country’s culture, tasting new cuisine, seeing historical places and having a painfully negative balance in your bank account. 

Now, it is no secret that traveling abroad in general is expensive. According to travelers worldwide, the average week-long trip to Europe costs $1,783 — not even a quarter of an average study abroad trip — which is definitely not pocket change. That is not even including the plane ticket, which can fluctuate greatly in price, but is undoubtedly a factor. Even if you may not be able to afford this, let’s say that you want to study abroad. First, put a fancy course title on it, then add a lecture or two, a museum tour maybe and then finally increase the price of the trip by about four grand. 

But, there are obviously things that study abroad offers that you can’t do yourself. The experts usually with you can show you local spots, get you in places you never would’ve dreamed of getting into and most importantly they can teach you about a culture you’ve never experienced before. 

But that experience is not one that is available to all students, and some would argue that it shouldn’t be. Inherently, it is an extra piece of education that isn’t necessary for college. You can complete your degree in four years here at Butler and not even think about the more culturally rich, beautiful experience your wealthier classmates are having. 

I am unfortunately not very good at not thinking about these experiences, especially when it comes to matters of inequality. As someone who is here on scholarship —  by that I mean if I didn’t have this scholarship I wouldn’t be here — I found that the same applied to study abroad. If I didn’t get a full scholarship, I wouldn’t be able to go. I can barely afford the plane ticket. 

I am one of many students on this campus who simply cannot afford to have the most praised, enriching experiences that it seems everyone can’t shut up about. But more important than the fact that I can’t afford this: why are these trips inaccessible to students not in upper tax brackets? What does a university have to gain from less educated, culturally aware and well-rounded students? 

The simple answer, I think, would be money. It’s possible that universities noticed that everyone likes traveling to beautiful foreign places, so they made it accessible to students with the caveat that they shell out the equivalent of two used Honda Civics in pure green. But money doesn’t just come from the students actually attending the trips, but rather the students like me, still in high school, who think that this place will be the key to exploring the world. Quite honestly, the zeal with which my admissions guides promoted study abroad was one of the main reasons I decided to come here. 

I’m sure I’m not alone in that, and that I’m not alone in realizing what is actually true: bar miraculous scholarships from wealthy people, study abroad is only available to those with some level of wealth. 

Victory Sampson, a junior strategic communication and multilingual studies major who studied abroad echoed this but added his own hopeful note. 

“I am a first-generation, Black, economically-disadvantaged student, and that’s only naming some of the identifiers that could make studying abroad a challenge for me,” Sampson said. “As much as I believe study abroad should be for everyone who desires it, study abroad ultimately ends up being for those who can afford it. But I want my experience to be an [example] that with the right financial planning and help, it is more than possible to not only [study abroad], but enjoy it.” 

I want to stress that this is not the fault of our study abroad department, as they are wonderful and helpful people who are trying their best. This is a nation-wide phenomenon, occurring at nearly every public and private university. It is not like these departments intentionally conspire to give students less scholarship money. 

Study Abroad Advisor Bond St John had this to say about meeting the financial needs of students. 

“The Center For Global Education (CGE) understands that students have a variety of considerations, including financial need,” St John said in an email to The Butler Collegian. “In the past two years alone, we have had five generous donors create new endowed scholarships, bringing our total up to 10 different endowed scholarships we use each year to financially support students. Oftentimes, donors remember study abroad as one of the most impactful experiences from their college years [and] donate so that the abroad experience can be financially possible for more students.” 

That’s not all. St John also described the specific numbers involved, which are important to note. 

“CGE awards multiple endowed study abroad scholarships to Butler students, most of which are need-based,” St John said. “Over $85,000 in endowed and college-specific scholarships were awarded in Summer 2023, Fall 2023, and Spring 2024 to Butler students going on study abroad programs.” 

These are great numbers but still don’t cover many students, including myself. 

Junior strategic communication major Alexis Worl gave her advice on what to do if even CGE can’t help. 

“I would apply to any and all scholarships,” Worl said. “The worst they can say is no. Scholarships are not always the easiest to acquire, so I would say the more you apply to, the more likely you are to get some.” 

Study abroad programs are not a monolith. Some will be affordable — relatively speaking — and some won’t be. It is important to utilize the resources available here, whether that’s the folks at CGE or outside scholarships. 

But if that’s not possible, it’s also okay to not study abroad. While it seems like everyone who does it has their eyes opened to a whole new world, you are not less valuable if you can’t study abroad. You can be your brilliant self right here, bulldogs. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.  Regardless of what position you find yourselves in, universities find themselves in positions of power, with resources most people never have. They should use that power to help students get opportunities they would not have otherwise, or they should change their admissions marketing to be more honest: ‘Most of our students study abroad here, right after their vacations to the Maldives.’