The decline in the U.S. dollar’s value over the past six years continues to affect specific spending choices made by study abroad coordinators, but overall student participation in study abroad programs has increased during that time.

“Last year, we had record numbers,” said Trevor Nelson, director of the Study Abroad Center.

The fiscal year 2007, which included all study abroad programs from summer 2006 through spring semester 2007, included 1,188 students participate in study abroad programs.

This fiscal year, 1,140 students have studied abroad, are currently doing so, or will do so later this semester.

“We’re very conscious about pricing our programs,” Nelson said.

“There’s no point of having good programs if students can’t afford them.”

Nelson said study abroad programs have sometimes been made a little shorter than they were in the past, or alternative destinations have been chosen, in order to cut costs.

For example, Nelson said a program might move from London to a less expensive location in England, unless the course content demands a London location.

Nelson said such changes have not caused a significant amount of stress for study abroad coordinators.

“Our concern has always been to provide affordable, high-quality programs,” Nelson said.

Robert Jolly, professor of economics, who is helping to plan a short-term study abroad program in Germany this May, said there were no difficulties in recruiting students for the trip.

At the same time, Jolly said, he and the other coordinators have had to look at ways to control costs, such as using buses instead of trains.

The students will also be staying in hostels this year, instead of hotels.

Harvey Lapan, university professor of economics, said the weak dollar is not directly related to the possibility of an economic recession inside the United States.

The decline of the dollar, Lapan said, is a long-term phenomena, related to the emergence of the euro and its strength in the world market, among other things.

“What it means, when the dollar depreciates, is that it makes our goods look cheaper to foreigners, and foreign goods look more expensive to us,” Lapan said.

This should actually be good for the economy at home in that it should stimulate demand for more exports, creating jobs here, Lapan said.

However, there may be some instances in which home economic struggles are related to or impacted by the weak dollar, such as in a situation in which a California home’s mortgage is held by a German bank, Lapan said.