I can, with enthusiasm, say that living in England since September has been a highlight of my college career. Choosing to stay the year was one of the best choices I have made while at Dickinson. However, the cost of spending a year or even a semester abroad has been weighing on not only me, but other students in the Dickinson in England program as well. This financial stress has only increased during the spring semester after Dickinson decreased the stipend from the fall semester.
Many students in the program were startled to hear that in the spring semester, the Dickinson stipend drops from $450 per month in the fall semester to $400 per month in the spring semester. Much of the Dickinson issued information about the program does not mention this change. Materials such as the Guidebook app, which students are told to download before arriving in England, states “Students receive a monthly food stipend of $450/month,” and does not specify the decrease in the spring semester. Aislynn Bell ’25 said “I was in the same understanding as many of my fellow classmates that our stipend would be $450. The guidebook as well as all of the presentations shown to us prior to coming to England said 450.”
The official Dickinson College “Global Study and Engagement” website claims “All students participating in an academic year or semester Dickinson or Partner Program are charged a Comprehensive Fee that corresponds closely to on-campus tuition, housing and food, and fees, which are announced each spring.” However, many students find that they can not live off the monthly stipend, especially with the addition of costs Dickinson students do not pay while on campus such as gym memberships (£150 or £20.50/m for off peak times) and club/society membership fees.
Bell went to the Dickinson Office for Global Study and Engagement to ask about costs associated with studying abroad, and they directed her to the financial aid office. Both offices “assured me that the cost of coming abroad would be almost identical to that of attending Dickinson” Bell said. She went on to say “Both offices seemed reluctant to give a set number of any sort,” and that when she arrived in London the costs “began to pile up at an alarming amount.”
Bell also expressed her concern that the stipends are in United States Dollars, stating “I don’t think $400 is enough to cover a month. The fact that the stipend is set to American dollars doesn’t account for the exchange rate.” Currently the $400 USD stipend is only about £315.10.
Some Dickinson in England students have pointed out that students from other Dickinson Global Programs receive more per month than those in Norwich. Emily Poland ’25, who is studying abroad in Toulouse, France this semester, commented that students in her program living with a host family receive “a little under $600 a month” to cover costs associated with transportation and any meals outside of the three meals a week and breakfast that host families provide. Milo Newman ’25, a student spending the whole year in Norwich, said “I feel that we should get at least the same amount as France and I don’t think the amount we are getting–and honestly I’d question if France is getting–is enough to cover a month’s worth of food.”
Newman expressed his displeasure at the price disparities between the cost of attending the University of East Anglia and Dickinson. He looked up the cost for attendance for an international student in the School of Art, Media and American Studies, £19,250.00, which is about $24,438.64 United States dollars compared to the cost of attending Dickinson in England which according to the official “Global Study and Engagement” website is about $43,510.00. “Why are we paying Dickinson prices for a UEA year of education?” he wonders. “I feel like they are acting like they are giving me something, it’s my money that they are giving it back to me” he said.
