The Frank J. Guarini Institute for International Education

Glossary

For a description of what’s covered in each budget item calculation, click on or hover over the budget item titles.

Use the student OCP budget tracking spreadsheet created by a Student Alumni Mentor to help you stay on track.
Or, for more information on budgeting and budgeting app recommendations, read the finances sections in the Student Handbook for Off-Campus Programs.

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Dartmouth Billable Expenses

Living Expenses

• Housing: Students live in various accommodations depending on the location and include modest hotels, dormitories, and relatively primitive field camps.
• Food: All meals are included except for the few outlined below.
• Onsite Transportation: The program will arrange and pay for all local ground transportation in Costa Rica.
• Other Items: Dartmouth will provide waterproof field notebooks, underwater writing slate and light, and your personal copy of the coursebook once it is published.

Student-Covered Non-Billable Expenses

• Food purchased or self-prepared: Students will cover the costs of meals while in San Jose for 3-4 days over the Costa Rica portion of the program (while traveling between field sites and air travel segments).
• Round Trip Transportation: Students are responsible for booking and travel expenses to and from Miami. Dartmouth will book group airfare and students will travel together from Miami and back. Your account will be billed for these group flights after the program (estimated at $900, but may vary greatly depending on frequently changing flight price dynamics). 
• Books, Course Materials, Supplies, and Equipment (see glossary)
• Miscellaneous (see glossary)
• Other Costs Paid by Student: All students must purchase Divers Alert Network (DAN) memberships and associated insurance. Students will cover costs for snorkeling/diving gear (mask, fins, snorkel, wetsuit, weight belt) and diving certification at Dartmouth. This gear may cost between $500 to $1,000 and the fee for diving certification at Dartmouth is approximately $250. For students who SCUBA dive, other equipment, insurance, and membership through the Divers Alert Network (DAN) will be required. These prices vary depending on SCUBA or snorkeling memberships. Students may also need personal gear such as clothing and boots, and school supplies not already provided such as a notebook and writing utensils for lecture notes.

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Obtaining Funds for Non-Billable Items

High-need Financial Aid students can obtain funds for non-billable budget items via a financial aid “refund.” Some high-need students not only will owe nothing on their billing statement but will have enough aid leftover to cover their round-trip transportation and other costs after their billed charges are paid. The following options are only available to students who will have a large enough refund available in their accounts to cover the travel charge. See more about studying away on Financial Aid.
 
Option 1: Purchase your own flights upfront and reimburse yourself out of the account refund available at the start of the term.
Option 2: If option 1 is not possible and if you qualify for this support, you may be able to book your flight through the College’s travel service, Travel Leaders, where it is charged directly to your D-Pay account and your D-Pay credit balance will cover the cost of the ticket.
Please contact the Office of Financial Aid with any questions.

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Note: Amounts listed for individual budget items are the best estimates currently available.

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Last updated for 24W by CRT on 18 DEC 2023.