How to Plan a Low-Cost Study-Abroad Trip for Students

A study-abroad trip is probably one of the most effective ways for students of language and culture to really learn their stuff. It's one thing to sit in a classroom and memorize words and phrases, but it's entirely another when a student is face-to-face with the reality that she's not surrounded by her own language or her own culture.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Compare prices and itineraries for the various educational travel companies that are already out there providing study-abroad trips for students. Watch for prices, though, as the established companies, whose sole business is creating these trips, need to charge a lot in overhead costs to cover various administrative expenses.
2. Choose to prepare your own trip for your students. The advantages are numerous, and the disadvantages--though real--may not be insurmountable. Start by finding a school or institute in the country where you want to go, one which offers classes and family home stays for the students.
3. Find an inexpensive flight. Take your time with this part of the process, as you need to check several airlines, as well as several possible dates. On top of that, you have to check the same dates on successive days of your search, since special deals and offers come up rather unexpectedly. Sometimes, prices from one day to the next can vary by many hundreds of dollars. Inexplicable, but true.
4. Prepare the students ahead of time by teaching them the tried-and-true adage, "Take twice as much money as you think you need, and half the clothes." Warn them about impulse buying, which is a very powerful trap when they find themselves suddenly surrounded by so many things that they can't see in their home country.
5. Talk with various insurance companies and do online research to find deals for short-term plans that cover students doing a study-abroad trip. They have plans that include hospital visits, emergency medications and catastrophic injuries. Also check with the school where you send the students; reputable schools and institutes offer optional insurance plans for the students they take in.

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