Since its inception in 2015, Trinity has canceled Global City Berlin, a program that has traveled to Germany for the first two weeks of summer, allowing students to explore the city, learn about Berlin’s history and talk to German university students.
GCB is a political science course that travels abroad every other year with a focus on Berlin and German history. This year, however, under-enrollment in the program forced the Global City Berlin trip to be canceled. The news came much to the chagrin of the professor leading the trip, Peter O’Brien.
“The price is way up, … and many of the people who decided they couldn’t afford it actually did receive financial aid. The problem is not just lack of financial aid, it’s even not enough financial aid,” O’Brien said. “We should be on schedule for 2027. But I’m also not terribly optimistic because if this were to recur, the same problem of the unaffordability of it for so many students, then we’ll just run into the same problem of not being able to recruit.”
The price of the trip has risen exponentially in the past few years. In 2017, the GCB trip cost $2,650 for food, lodging and tourist experiences. In 2025, the trip would have cost $5,255. Andre Martinez, Assistant Director for Study Abroad in the Center for International Engagement, explained the price escalation.
“In general, the program providers after the pandemic, most of them had to fire 80% of their staff. It was horrible,” Martinez said. “IES was one of the larger ones, and they weren’t immune. They had to do it, too. And ever since then, they are raising their costs like you [wouldn’t] believe.”
Martinez expressed his frustration for students who planned to go on the trip while also stating that the rapidly rising prices were out of IES’ control. As he had also planned on attending the trip, he described how he could feel many student’s disappointment palpably.
“I know a lot of folks here are upset. But we did everything we could. You know, I feel bad for the students because they really want to go,” Martinez said.
Martinez explained that the Center for International Engagement could not give larger scholarships to students due to program policy. All study abroad programs draw from the same source of money, and scholarships are only given based on financial need.
“The money is with the students, not with the program. So as the students apply, that money is based on financial need for the student,” Martinez said. “Because what if we have a large number of students that need it for one program, but then there’s X amount that’s available. It’s purely based on financial need that’s reported to the university, and they tell us and then that’s it.”
Lauren Caffrey, sophomore international studies major, was planning to go on the trip before it was canceled. While disappointed the trip was not happening, Caffrey explained that she was not surprised.
“Money was definitely the biggest issue. Everyone I talked to who wanted to go couldn’t because of money,” Caffrey said. “The financial problem is definitely the biggest reason why they couldn’t hit that minimum.”
