Study abroad can be surprisingly affordable if you plan well. Often your existing financial aid will transfer. In addition, to help students afford study abroad, ISDSI charges a “comprehensive fee” so that students may apply existing financial aid to the program in Thailand.

OUR COMPREHENSIVE FEE INCLUDES:

• Tuition
• Program related meals
• Housing
• In-country books/readers
• Program related travel
• Monthly cash stipend for food
• Entry quarantine in Thailand if necessary

THE FEE DOES NOT COVER THE FOLLOWING:

• Roundtrip airfare to Thailand
• Visa fee
• COVID-19 testing for international travel if necessary
• Health insurance if required for visa and entry into Thailand
• Trip insurance
• Personal gear / expedition clothing
• Pre-departure reading, if any

Check with your study abroad office to see if they will cover any of the above.

DIRECT ENROLL COMPREHENSIVE FEEs FOR 2024-2025*:

*While most schools will accept an ISDSI transcript directly, if your school requires a US transcript, we offer a transcript through Guilford College (NC) for $300.  

PAYING FOR YOUR program

Some schools have formal partnerships with ISDSI.  If so, you may be able to pay through your home institution, depending on their study abroad/tuition policy. Please check with your study abroad office to find out if this is the case at your school.

What goes into the fees?

ISDSI charges a comprehensive fee, and all of your expenses are covered while on one of our programs. Some study abroad programs hide costs by not charging for food, transportation or other costs that the students have to pay for themselves. We bundle everything into the comprehensive fee so that financial aid will apply to everything. We also put all of the costs towards creating a truly once in a lifetime experience.  We have very small language classes (usually 4-5 students per instructor) and teach in teams so that students can get the learning support and individualized instruction they need.  For example,  a class of 25-30 students will typically have a instructor team of 5 instructors (one lead and 4 field instructors).   In the field we then break into small groups of 12-15 students with 2 field instructors.  We are also traveling into remote, and sometimes expensive to reach places.  This pushes the costs up, but allows our students to go beyond what a tourist might see, and rather than a cheap program where you spend most of your time on a college campus, we are out in remote tribal villages, sea kayaking the islands, and skin diving coral reefs while learning from local communities.