<p>Financial doubts gnaw at international students
Roiling markets affect aid, currency values, college savings
By Christian Gaston</p>
<p>The Portland Tribune, Oct 23, 2008 (1 Reader comment)</p>
<p>L.E. BASKOW / Portland Tribune </p>
<p>Indian electrical engineering student Vamsi Parasa (middle) didn’t receive financial aid when he was accepted into Portland State’s doctoral program. Parasa’s brother paid his tuition this fall.
When Christian Messerschmitt enrolled at Portland State University this fall, he was hoping that he’d get a bit of a break.</p>
<p>The dollar was down against the euro, and Messerschmitt, a 26-year-old graduate student from Germany with a student loan from the German government, was expecting his euros to stretch a bit further in Portland.</p>
<p>But that hasn’t been the case. Once he arrived, the value of the euro began to drop, putting the squeeze on his bank account.</p>
<p>“It sucks because I get my money in euros, and it’ll be less and less every day,” Messerschmitt said.</p>
<p>His predicament isn’t uncommon. International students in Portland and beyond are quickly realizing that the economic instability that’s turned the stock and currency markets into daily seesaws can mean the evaporation of thousands of dollars’ worth of college savings.</p>
<p>Being a college student in a foreign country is always tricky.</p>
<p>But this year, college advisers are worried that credit panics in Europe and Asia and the decline of a number of currencies could create a perfect storm, forcing many students who would have studied in the United States to stay home.</p>
<p>At Oregon State University, international students already are lining up for scholarships in preparation for tough times.</p>
<p>“Our scholarship requests more than doubled this year,” said Laurie Lewis, assistant director of international student and faculty services at Oregon State. “I think that is indicative of all that’s going on.”</p>
<p>Visas limit work options
Judy Van Dyck, director of international affairs at Portland State University, whose office provides aid and academic direction to the university’s 1,552 international students, said foreign students are especially vulnerable to economic turmoil.</p>
<p>Tuition for international students is higher than domestic students, financial aid is scarce, and their student visas prevent them from working off campus and more than 20 hours a week.</p>
<p>“We’re very concerned, and we’re trying to follow this closely,” said Gil Latz, vice provost for international affairs at Portland State.</p>
<p>“The irony is because the dollar is weak, there’s a great deal of interest across the world to pursue studying in the United States,” Latz said.</p>
<p>But with world financial markets in turmoil, it’s likely that more and more students will find themselves in Messerschmitt’s shoes.</p>
<p>Mohammad Suhail, event coordinator for the Indian Student Association at PSU, said Indian students are especially tenacious about finding work, even though the rules limit their options.</p>
<p>“They’re worried about it, but they’re pretty good about getting jobs on campus,” Suhail said. “It still bothers them, though, in the couple months in the beginning (of the term) when they can’t find a job.”</p>
<p>“I think, rightly or wrongly, students feel like once they get here, they’ll be able to get a job and defray those costs,” Van Dyck said. “But it’s not often possible for them to find jobs on campus.”</p>
<p>One year’s tuition for full-time international students at PSU is $15,192. Add in living expenses and fees and the cost jumps to $29,244.</p>
<p>Currency fluctuations hit hard
With the bills racking up, a slight (or, in some cases, drastic) drop in the value of a student’s home currency can make a big difference.</p>
<p>Yu Nakao, an international student at Portland State, said the Japanese yen has held its value while the dollar has slumped, so she’s not feeling the pinch yet.</p>
<p>But with tumultuous markets, it’s hard to figure out when to transfer money into the United States.</p>
<p>“Who can predict when to hedge or bring in the big blob of money on a wire transfer?” Van Dyck said.</p>
<p>If parents save a set amount for their student’s fees and tuition, and their currency takes a dramatic dive, it can become difficult to pay bills.</p>
<p>Van Dyck said if problems in the markets persist, universities could see students in trouble as early as January.</p>
<p>Markets affect aid availability
When Vamsi Parasa, an Indian electrical engineering student, applied for doctoral programs last winter, he assumed that if he was accepted, financial aid would be available. That was last year.</p>
<p>Since doctoral aid comes from private funds, international students like Parasa are eligible, but this year all three universities Parasa applied to said they didn’t have resources to cover his tuition because losses in stocks and bonds reduced the amount of money from foundations and trusts.</p>
<p>“I was kind of depressed, and my entire family was upset,” Parasa said. “I already paid $35,000 for my master’s program. For me to spend another $15,000 to $20,000 in a year was really depressing.”</p>
<p>Luckily for Parasa, his brother took a new job in Texas that allowed him to help.</p>
<p>“If my brother hadn’t gotten a good job, I would have had no choice but to exit the United States,” Parasa said.</p>
<p>Financial aid is scarce for most international students, so they often rely on loans from their home country or private loans. Foreign students aren’t eligible for federal financial aid.</p>
<p>While public institutions are limited in the amount of financial support they can offer international students, Reed College is free to spend the school’s endowment on international aid.</p>
<p>Many students from India or Ghana receive financial aid packages that cover all but $4,000 of Reed’s $48,110 annual tuition.</p>
<p>That insulates international students at Reed, who make up about 7 percent of the student body, from some of the effects of the financial crisis. But Paul Marthers, dean of admission, thinks that this coming year fewer foreign students will apply to Reed.</p>
<p>Marthers also expects that a weak U.S. economy will reduce proceeds from the college’s investment funds, putting a crunch on aid for next year as well. If that happens, international aid might get cut.</p>
<p>“We may have to strategically say, ‘We’ll look at all the domestic students who need the money here and we’ll put it there,’ ” Marthers said.</p>