A Comparison Of Spanish Language Schools Vs. University Courses
Quite often students who haven't considered studying at Spanish immersion schools in South America become extremely motivated to do so once examining the facts. Apart from the joys of experiencing a new culture, it is possible to save quite a bit of money over the cost of a typical university course in the United States. Additionally, it couldn't be easier to learn Spanish abroad, as there are many programs from which to choose.
While an exact price comparison can be a bit tricky, in general, you can expect to pay roughly $7 to $9 per hour for a Spanish language school in South America. This cost can be compared to over $40 (based on $20,000 annual university tuition) at a private university. Of course, when you factor in fees and other college expenses, the savings escalates even further. In short, you can expect to pay between four to six times as much for your instruction in a university than you would to study Spanish abroad.
You might be wondering why there is such a big price difference between studying Spanish in South America and studying at a university or college. As it turns out, there are a variety of reasons, some of which are obvious and some of which are less apparent. In South America the dollar usually goes far thanks to favorable exchange rates, such as 4 pesos to one greenback in Argentina. This means that Americans are able to have greater purchasing power when in a country like Argentina or Peru.
Yet aside from the exchange rate, there are other reasons that can also impact the price difference. Universities have dramatically higher overhead. In fact, they have a sea of expenses when compared to Spanish language schools. A substantial part of tuition is also used to do things like subsidize graduate studies, professor research projects and publish books, none of which are much benefit to the undergrad. Not to mention the additional expense of maintaining a vast, complex and expensive sports program as well. These non-class related expenses do not exist when you learn Spanish abroad.
Educational standards cannot be overlooked. It should be pointed out that at universities it is common for a good deal of the teaching to be done by graduate assistants who often have little teaching experience. On the other hand, teachers in language schools often spend over 1,000 hours per year in the classroom. Here is what Wendy Savinar from the United States had to say regarding her recent Spanish studies in Chile.