Funds can be a challenge for some students when they decide to study abroad, but there are many ways they can overcome those challenges and multiple scholarships for which students can apply.

As part of the “I, Too, Am Study Abroad” panel series, four Oswego State students spoke to their interested peers Tuesday about their own issues with money when they studied abroad, scholarships they received and how they overcame the monetary challenges by budgeting.

Before she studied abroad in Jamaica, senior communication and social interaction major Isabella Falcigno saved money with the help of her parents because she knew, at some point, she wanted to study abroad in college.

“It wasn’t a big problem for me [before the trip],” Falcigno said. “A big problem for me was money while I was there.”

While in Jamaica, Falcigno learned she needed to budget her money early on because she went through a big chunk of what she had saved during the first week she was there.

“Don’t get carried away when you first arrive just because your study abroad trip is going to be so amazing and there are going to be so many different opportunities throughout the entire trip,” Falcigno said. “You’re going to want to make sure you have enough money to do everything on your bucket list.”

Falcigno said unfortunately, there were a few activities that she could not do because she spent too much money going to expensive restaurants instead of eating a home-cooked meal.

Junior applied mathematics and chemistry double major Kaitlyn Barney went to New Zealand and budgeted her money.

“Although it was a little more expensive for me to be abroad, I didn’t let it stop me because it was something I really wanted to do,” Barney said.

Barney made sure that, between scholarships, funding and loans, she had enough money. From there, she budgeted the money how she wanted to spend it.

“For me, I wanted to put a little more money toward travel and a little less toward eating out, and I did a lot of home-cooked meals,” Barney said. “I had an excel spreadsheet, I typed in what I needed to subtract from my total, and it told me what I had left. I knew how much I was spending in a month, and it was very easy to stay on track.”

Some of the study abroad programs are only $1,000 more than studying at Oswego State for a semester, Barney said.

“If you end up applying for scholarships here and there, and if you want to get your price down, there are so many scholarships out there,” Barney said. “If you get enough scholarships, you could actually go abroad cheaper than staying a semester on campus.”

Oswego State has more than 11 scholarships that are awarded to multiple students each year, and there are national scholarships students can also apply for which to bring the cost down.

Junior public relations and global and interaction studies double major Theresa Personna studied in Belize and applied for a SUNY-wide scholarship, the Diversity Award, which helped bring down her total cost by at least a third. 

Falcigno did not apply for any scholarships for her study abroad trip, and she said it is something she regrets not doing.

“My family and I saved for a long time, so I thought I didn’t need it because I had the money already,” Falcigno said. “I think about what if I did get the scholarship? I wouldn’t have needed to spend that money. I didn’t apply, but I highly recommend applying.”

Barney said there is a lot of funding students can get when they are in college, whereas it will be harder to take off of work from a full-time job to travel.

“Do not let funds stop you from doing what you really want to do,” Barney said. “You’re in college. When else are you going to get this opportunity?”

Photo Provided by:

William Rogers | The Oswegonian