Grinnell and Study Abroad programs

Grinnell Director of Off-Campus Study Richard Bright said in an e-mail that Grinnell does not have any financial arrangements with study abroad programs, such as those that were detailed in The New York Times today. The Times published an article on student loan programs and the "gifts and money" that sometimes flow the universities' way in those relationships. Some things mentioned:

At many campuses, study abroad programs are run by multiple companies and nonprofit institutes that offer colleges generous perks to sign up students: free and subsidized travel overseas for officials, back-office services to defray operating expenses, stipends to market the programs to students, unpaid membership on advisory councils and boards, and even cash bonuses and commissions on student-paid fees. This money generally goes directly to colleges, not always to the students who take the trips.

Colleges and universities cited in the article included the University of California (Berkeley), Fordham and Pace, Rice, and Columbia.

"I can say with confidence that Grinnell does not engage in the sorts of financial arrangements with study-abroad programs described in the article," Bright wrote in his e-mail after being asked about the Times article. "The college selects programs according to their academic relevance to the on-campus curriculum and would not accept monetary or non-monetary incentives in making these decisions. In fact, none of the programs to which Grinnell sends students has ever made such an offer."