Things finally seem to be bouncing back at the Office of International Education. 

Last year, the University saw an overall decrease in study abroad participation — the first decrease in years — by 5 percent, but study abroad directors say they are excited about this year’s spring semester and remain optimistic about the upcoming application deadlines for Maymester programs.

“If you consider students participating in both UGA and non-UGA programs — anyone going abroad for credit — we have 306 studying abroad Spring 2010,”said Kasee Laster, the University’s director for study abroad programs. “We did feel the effects of the economy in ’08 and ’09, but faculty do their own recruiting, so I don’t have the numbers in yet for Maymester.”

Three-quarters of University students who plan to study abroad will participate in summer programs.

“Knowing something about spring doesn’t say nearly as much as knowing something about summer,” she said.

According to Laster, the University programs overseas have fared far better than other University’s programs.

“There were schools that went down more than that,” she said. “Anecdotally, I heard about schools going down as much as 40 percent.”

James McClung, the associate director of UGA at Oxford, said his program has seen an increase in the number of students investigating their financial aid options.

“Generally speaking, our spring programs have remained full, but we’ve seen a small dip the number of applications and a large increase in those asking about financial aid,” he said. “I think you could certainly draw a correspondence between a dip in applications and a struggling economy. What’s particularly telling about how financial problems affect students is the large increase in financial aid interest. That to me says more.”

UGA Cortona saw a similar increase in students asking about financial aid.

“Spring is usually our smallest semester anyway,” said Mary VanNus, office manager for UGA Cortona. “We have 46 students this year, had 42 last year. I’m not sure if it’s [because of the economy]. Spring can run anywhere from 40 to 60.”

Cortona is another example of a program bouncing back — for one of its upcoming Maymester programs, UGA Cortona received over 50 applications for 35 spots, despite an inability to provide any new forms of financial aid to help students struggling in this economy.

Rebecca Kopp, a senior political science major from Acworth, received a Murphy Foundation scholarship to study in Verona, Italy, in the summer of 2008.

“I think that there are scholarships out there that no one, or barely anyone, applies for,” she said. “I know the Murphy Foundation is always looking for more people.” While the Office of International Education has not created any new forms of financial aid to assist potential applicants, Laster said enough aid is present to help cushion the expenses for many students planning to study abroad.

“Students should contact us,” she said. “They should never assume they can’t afford to study abroad. Individual colleges have scholarships, as do individual programs, and they can get Pell, HOPE or federal aid. There are plenty of options.”