It is no secret that many college students want to study abroad. In the traditional study abroad model, college students go abroad during the semester, take classes at a foreign university and have unforgettable experiences. But for many, the cost is prohibitive, as it usually computes to a more expensive experience than staying on campus. Many universities run abroad programs as exchanges with partner universities. One often overlooked and rarely discussed detail: students pay their home university tuition to take classes at a foreign university where the tuition is likely much lower. For more budget-conscious students, and those who otherwise want to maximize the return on their academic investment, many universities (especially public universities, opposed to private universities) allow you to take a leave of absence for a semester while you go abroad and enroll in a foreign university. In this scenario, the student pays the lower foreign university tuition, often working through a private program provider, and then transfers the semester credits back to the home university for a nominal fee. The program provider handles all logistics: the university enrollment and tuition payment, housing, medical insurance, local staff, and other expenses as part of a formal program similar to the home university offering. These services are helpful because the foreign universities typically do not offer this level of support for international students. All in, the student spends thousands less on the entire semester abroad experience than a semester on campus!
Shocked? Let us explain. To better understand this more affordable alternative for study abroad, we sat down with University of Michigan and Sage Corps alumnus A.J. Morris. A.J. spent a semester abroad in the Sage Corps Dublin program where he took a full course load at a local university while completing a part-time, paid internship at an Irish startup.
Q. What was your decision-making process like for going abroad?
AJ: Well, rather than going to a country in Europe and only studying at a foreign university or abroad center, I knew that I wanted to break the traditional study abroad mold. What I mean by that is I knew I wanted to go to Ireland, and I knew I wanted to supplement my studies with an internship. However, I didn’t want to intern abroad during my Junior year summer. In my ideal world, that internship is in the U.S., which would set me up well for a full-time offer (which it did!).
Q. Clearly your direction and having an idea for what you wanted helped forge your study abroad experience. How did Sage Corps come into the picture?
Given that I wanted to intern during my abroad experience, this played directly into where Sage Corps separated itself from other abroad programs. I had heard about the program through my network at the University of Michigan. The fact that Sage Corps focuses specifically on startups and entrepreneurship made me think that the program/experience would allow me to set myself apart from my peers when applying to jobs. Additionally, Sage Corps’ relationship with foreign universities allowed me to register for classes in Dublin, my desired location.
Q. I’d love to hear a little more about the mechanics of making the experience work. What other steps did you need to take to make this happen during the regular school year semester?
This is where Sage Corps was great. Sage Corps handled all the planning for living, studying, and working in Ireland for me. From housing, to travel insurance, to the internship, and ultimately to enrollment at DCU (Dublin City University), Sage Corps took care of all of those logistics.
On the flip side, I was responsible for working with my academic advisor at UofM to determine which credits would transfer and the types of courses I needed in order to graduate on time. During the first week of October of my junior year, I committed to go abroad the next semester in the Spring. This gave both Sage Corps and me enough time to coordinate everything academically and logistically.
It was all pretty straightforward once I committed to the program. I was given a course list from DCU, and from there I coordinated with my academic advisor on which classes to take based on my graduation requirements. It was no different than if I was going to take courses at Michigan.
Q. How was your actual internship experience in Dublin?
The company I worked for was called Axonista, a design and tech firm. At the time they had about 20 employees and I got to help lead a marketing research project. I learned how to properly articulate a value proposition and position a brand externally, which has helped a bunch in my full-time roles at Lessonly. I have to add that I was able to enroll in Marketing courses at DCU which was a perfect complement to the work I was doing at Axonista. As Sales and Marketing have increasingly overlapped and become more difficult to differentiate between, I’m thankful I had that experience.
Q. As an out-of-state student, I understand that this saved your family money in terms of tuition costs. Is that compared to other abroad programs or compared to a semester at Michigan?
The answer is actually both! Obviously, education is expensive no matter how you slice it, let’s be clear about that. But the Sage Corps abroad experience was definitely cheaper than if I selected one of the larger abroad providers and simply studied abroad with no internship. What blew my mind — and my parents for that matter — was by going abroad with Sage Corps it was actually cheaper than it would have been had I not gone abroad at all. It’s worth repeating, my abroad experience was cheaper than staying at my home campus for a semester. Heck, I almost considered transferring full-time to DCU (Just kidding, would never have left Michigan. Go Blue!).
As AJ enthusiastically shared, our Semester Abroad Program can save you thousands of dollars while guaranteeing college credits, an internship, housing, and an immersive cultural experience. You’ll still have time to travel and participate in professional and social events with your cohort! If this sounds interesting to you, apply to our Spring 2022 Program now! Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to spend a semester abroad in Dublin, Ireland or Santiago, Chile.
