South Korea's economy may have collapsed halfway around the world, but its continuing woes have reached as far as Hanover, leaving many Korean international students and Korean-American students grappling with how to pay for next term's tuition.
Early last November, South Korea's economy -- previously the 11th largest in the world -- suddenly collapsed, leaving many jobless and forcing the Korean government to request $20 billion in bailout money from the International Money Fund.
"My dad had to lay off a lot of people in his company and he's taken a cut in salary," Eunsung Cho '98, whose family lives in Korea, said. "It's really affected my family."
Since the collapse, the value of the won -- the Korean currency -- has fallen to half the value it once had, which has consequences for students from Korea, as well as Korean Americans whose parents have business ties to Korea.
In the months before the economic collapse, one dollar was equal to approximately 800 won. But now, according to current market exchange rates, it takes 1,635 won to equal a dollar.
Due to the extreme fluctuation of currency rates, Korean international students are now paying more for tuition than they did just a few months ago.
"My tuition's basically doubled," Charles Kim '01 said. "It's going to affect all the kids whose parents make their living in won instead of dollars."
Kim said "it's pure luck" his family has not been hit by Korea's economic crisis as hard as other Korean families, but he is still counting his pennies, he said.
"I really have to be more cautious," Kim said. "Everything can become extremely expensive."
Caroline Chang '01 said many of her Korean friends at other U.S. colleges have already returned to Korea because they can no longer afford to finance their education.
"A lot of guys have gone back to join the [Korean] army," she said. "They'll probably stay in the army until the economy stabilizes."
Chang said her family has also been affected by the economic crisis and she is looking for a job to defray some of her educational and daily living costs.
"I can't spend money on EBAs or anything like that," Chang said. "If you convert the dollars into won, it's just too much to spend on food."
But despite the crisis, many international students said they find it difficult to obtain financial aid from the College to help them with their current economic woes.
Senior Associate Director of Financial Aid Bea Filimonov, who is also in charge of handling financial aid for international students, said funding for international students has always been very limited.
Because funding is limited, admission policies for international students is not need-blind -- unlike policies for U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The admissions office and the financial aid office work together to ensure that international students are capable of paying for four years of education without relying heavily on financial aid, Filimonov said.
In order for international students to receive financial aid for all four years, they must apply for financial aid during the time of admission in order to be eligible every year, Filimonov said.
Even drastic changes in an international student's financial status would not constitute eligibility for financial aid if the student did not initially apply for aid when applying for admission, Filimonov said.
Filimonov said when economic crisis suddenly cripples an international student, the financial office tries to examine different solutions for the students on a case-by-case basis.
"The flexibility of the [Dartmouth Plan] allows students to take a couple terms off and there are also different loan programs that families can use," Filimonov said. "We try not to be so rigid, but we don't know the long-term effects of this crisis yet, so we will need to wait it out and see."
She said only one student so far has contacted the Financial Aid office regarding the declining value of Korean currency.
