February 20, 2008

Plaintiff in Study-Abroad Lawsuit Draws Fire From Students

A recent Wheaton College graduate whose father is suing the Massachusetts institution over its billing practices for study abroad was sharply criticized by her former classmates at a packed student-government meeting, the Attleboro, Mass., Sun Chronicle reports.

Jennifer Bombasaro-Brady defended the legal argument behind the lawsuit to dozens of students at a meeting on Tuesday, many of whom said they were not persuaded by her explanation, the newspaper reports.

In the suit, James P. Brady, Ms. Bombasaro-Brady’s father, accuses the private liberal-arts college of “unfair and deceptive” billing practices for charging full tuition, plus room and board, for a semester his daughter spent studying in South Africa in 2006. The program, offered by the School for International Training, an outside provider, cost about $17,000, according to the complaint, while Wheaton’s per-semester charges at the time were about $21,440.

Mr. Brady, a lawyer, seeks a declaratory judgment that would upend the longstanding practice at Wheaton, and potentially at other colleges, of charging “home school” tuition for credits earned through programs offered by outside providers.

At Tuesday’s meeting, students challenged Ms. Bombasaro-Brady’s argument that Wheaton had not been sufficiently transparent in its billing practices, saying they had been able to easily find that information on the college’s Web site.

“I don’t think anyone is getting blackmailed to go to Edinburgh or South Africa or Germany,” said Austin Simko, a junior. “It’s a contract that we enter into of our own volition.” —Karin Fischer

Comments

1. I think Ms. Brady and her father are trying to make a killing. Greed is their motive.

   — DH    Feb 20, 03:37 PM    #

2. The difference between “home” and “abroad” tuition isn’t the money-making ripoff Ms. Brady and her father seem to believe they are. When a student travels abroad there is very little change in the actual cost to the school, since the student is still enrolled at the home institution. I don’t think the plantiffs are taking into consideration the expense to the home institution for the study abroad programs (oversight and administration, course credit, etc. – these things have real, if hidden, costs) that are recouped by charging regular tuition. Colleges will be much less likely to offer travel abroad options if they end up losing money when students travel.

   — Techgirl    Feb 20, 04:32 PM    #

3. Whether it makes people happy or unhappy, charging “home school” tuition for credit earned through outside providers is long-standing. And there are reasons why the home institution should charge more than the cost of the program.

   There are not only actual costs of administration and record keeping, but also indirect costs, just as there are for government research projects. Moreover, faculty may be involved serving as advisors and perhaps supervising a paper. The college needs to assure itself regularly that programs provided by others meet its standards.

   But the great value added is Wheaton’s academic credit. While that is intangible, it has monetary value, just as “good will” may have monetary value when you sell a business.

   I suggest that Wheaton offer to return the difference between the program cost and Wheaton’s charges in exchange for not granting credit toward graduation. And let Mr. Brady decide whether the intangible of credit is worth the outlay.

   This has the potential to be a huge issue. So much credit is now earned through outside providers – internships, co-ops, service learning projects to name a few. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

   — Dodge Johnson    Feb 20, 04:55 PM    #

4. In light of recent rash of campus shootings, can we bypass “drawing fire,” “killing,” and similar phrases for more apt language? No one is shooting at the plaintiff, they’re sharply criticizing her. She and her father may be greedy, but they don’t appear to be homicidal.

   — Keith    Feb 20, 05:28 PM    #

5. Keith,

   You have to be kidding. Do you not understand metaphors? After all, you said “sharply criticizing,” and no one is trying to stab her. Oh, and you should probably excise “a rash” because it might make readers worry about a biochemical attack. I may have also been offended by “bypass” after the onslaught—sorry, increase—in road rage incidents lately.

   Do you moonlight as a campus speech-code writer, or work elsewhere in the Bureau of Overearnest and Misplaced Efforts?

   — Amanda    Feb 20, 08:27 PM    #

6. This article completely misses the whole point of the meeting – to pass a resolution that would bring the school under investigation by an unbiased party – the Attorney General of Massachusetts.

   Also, factually, it bears error. Students never said that they were able to find the cost of the programs easily on the COLLEGE website. They said that they were able to find them by visiting the outsourced PROGRAM’S website.

   Lastly, the case is hardly motivated by greed. The cost of litigation alone far out paces the amount sought for reminbursal — less than $5,000. This case is about setting a precedent so that other college can’t blackmail students with credit.

   Wheaton demands you pay THEM directly for study abroad program X. If you don’t, and pay study abroad program X instead, they deny you credit.

   — Jenny    Feb 22, 10:42 AM    #

7. Why should Wheaton have to award credit for free? If I get a degree from Harvard, they have a vested interest in the “branding” if you will of the Harvard name. They have a responsibility that their graduates obtain a certain level of education that can be claimed as a “Harvard education”. If I spent 75% of my time studying overseas at a fraction of the cost (and who knows what level of academic integrity), why should I recieve a Harvard degree for that? Realistically speaking, private schools have higher costs across the board, and this certainly includes the time and resources (faculty & staff paychecks) utilized to assess a multitude of random study abroad programs available to students today.

   — S.    Mar 18, 06:52 PM    #

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