Photo by Ali Meizels ’23
By Lily Reavis ‘21
Editor In Chief
Students had not yet received their revised financial aid packages when Mount Holyoke announced its residential plans for the upcoming academic year on June 29, but they were nevertheless expected to make decisions regarding their academic and living situations. Many rising juniors and seniors — as well as international students living domestically — were unsure if their requests to live on campus during the fall semester would be approved. For international students living outside of the U.S., returning to campus for the fall semester was never an option, as consulates remain closed in other countries.
The deadline to apply for a personal leave for fall 2020 was July 13, with potential flexibility for students with extenuating circumstances. Revised financial aid packages were not released until July 17. Many students reported that their packages took even longer to be processed, with some stating that they were unable to access their financial aid information until July 20.
The College’s cost of attendance for the 2020-2021 school year is $72,638, according to its website. All students are charged the same amount for tuition — $27,000 — whether they live on or off-campus this year. “[Tuition] reflects the instruction, academic credit and other academic and non-academic services that are available to all enrolling students,” reads the College’s “Opening the Gates” page, which holds information about the upcoming school year.
A tuition reduction grant of $1,224 per semester was applied to all students currently enrolled as an acknowledgment of the disruptions and constraints that “the pandemic imposes on-campus life and activities, as well as the challenging economic circumstances that our students and their families are facing,” the “Opening the Gates” page reads.
For international students in particular, these timelines have created unexpected fiscal and academic circumstances. Mount Holyoke prides itself on its significant number of international students, who make up over 25 percent of the College’s enrollment. Roughly 400 students from 70 countries attend the College and are unable to return to campus this fall.
“No one should be paying the same amount of tuition fees we’d be paying to be on campus for attending midnight classes in our own countries where we’ll face technical difficulties such as unstable internet connection and unexpected power cuts,” one international student from the class of 2024 said.
While all students are allowed to apply for personal leaves during their time at the College, returning international students are required to go through the immigration specialist at the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives in order to be approved for a leave.
There are three different forms of leave that students can apply for: medical, personal and academic. Taking any sort of leave may impact the future eligibility of students to receive financial aid, the College’s website states.
A Mount Holyoke FAQ page regarding leaves of absence for international students reads, “A non-academic leave would require [international students] to be outside of the US for the duration of [their] leave and [they would] probably need a new I-20 visa to come back.”
Incoming first-year international students are able to request a deferral of their admission by emailing the Office of Admission, and are not required to consult the McCulloch Center before doing so.
Many international students have voiced their disappointment in the College’s actions regarding financial aid for the upcoming academic year. For many students who will study off campus in the fall, grant aid was reportedly reduced by the same price as room and board in students’ revised financial aid packages. Despite not being charged living expenses, some off-campus students say that their families are expected to pay the exact same amount because of this.
“A lot of low-income students are planning to drop out and some have already submitted their withdrawal form,” said an international student from the class of 2024. “The family of the ones choosing to stay are going through financial pressure of supporting their child even when they have lost their jobs.”
The student called on Mount Holyoke to supply additional grants and relief to students whose family incoming is less than $30,000 per year, and to reduce the direct cost for students studying remotely.
Since the College’s campus shut down in March, most staff are working remotely. Due to this, the Student Financial Services office is only accessible to students via email. An automatic response reads, “Due to heavy volume, please allow three business days for a reply to your email.” With classes scheduled to begin in three weeks, many international students say they are scrambling to form a plan that will accommodate their financial and academic needs this year.
In a recent Instagram post shared by the Mount Holyoke News from the account “bipocatmountholyoke,” current international students pointed out that their families do not earn money in American dollars but are expected to pay tuition in the currency. “1 dollar is 7 Chinese yuan, 74 Indian rupees, 84 Bangladeshi taka, 107 Japanese yen, 168 Pakistani rupees, 14,656 Indonesian rupiah, 23,192 Vietnamese dong,” the post reads.
As the authors note, many families have been out of work for months due to the coronavirus pandemic and are currently struggling. Faced with an unexpectedly high tuition bill for online learning and reported reductions to grant aid, international students say they are “angry, upset and tired.”