ACTION NEEDED: Advocate for continuing use of financial aid for study abroad

What’s going on: 

You might have heard that as of a few years ago, Carpe Mundi students lost access to financial aid (FAFSA) for their Carpe Mundi experience due to a federal audit of PSU. We got word last week that the Federal Department of Education is changing its guidance on the use of Title IV Funding (which means FAFSA, Pell Grants, and Direct Loans, among other financial aid) for “third party services” (organizations like Carpe Diem/Carpe Mundi and many others). 

The proposed guidance states that Title IV funding cannot be used by students “if the servicer (or its subcontractors) is located outside of the United States or is owned or operated by an individual who is not a U.S. citizen or national or a lawful U.S. permanent resident. This prohibition applies to both foreign and domestic institutions.” 

What we understand this to mean: 

  • This is way bigger than just Carpe Mundi.

  • Starting on September 1, 2023 students at any US institution won’t be able to use their financial aid for study abroad programs that are run by an entity outside of the university. 

  • We fear this means that financial aid won't be accessible for nearly any study abroad experience.

We see this is a huge equity issue!! Financial aid is instrumental in increasing access to study abroad programs for low-income students. Without it, our fear is that even fewer Pell-eligible students will be able to access study-abroad opportunities. 

What you can do about it:

  1. Submit comments regarding the guidance presented in this Dear Colleague Letter before March 30, 2023 via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at Regulations.gov, under Docket ID ED-2022-OPE-0103. You can either type in your comments directly, or upload a PDF of your letter.

    1. Here’s a template to get you started if you need support!

  2. Submit your commentary via the steps above AND write to your federal representatives.

    1. Make sure you mention the name of the guidance: (GEN-23-03) Requirements and Responsibilities for Third-Party Servicers and Institutions (Updated Feb. 28, 2023).

    2. Find contact information for your Congressperson here 

    3. Find contact information for your Senators here

Carpe Diem Southeast Asia Itinerary

This year’s PDXChange program has 10 students traveling to Southeast Asia with Carpe Diem. Here’s what is in store for them:

The group will take a few days in the historic Siem Reap to settle in and adjust to their new surroundings.  With expert guidance, students will orient to travel and to Cambodia, learning about it’s ancient and recent history and the country’s regeneration and reconciliation efforts.

Angkor Wat from kimkim.

From there, the group will spend over a week in Battambang to learn from a local NGO about community and youth development.

The group will venture down to the lake to stay with homestay families who live off of the lake. Students will learn about some of the challenges affecting the communities on the lake and meet with local NGOs working to address them and contribute to environmental and educational projects.

The group heads back to the big city of Phnom Penh to take in the solemn sites of Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields. Here the group will continue to learn about the not so distant genocide that took place in Cambodia.  The group will also take some time to see celebration of life, where young Cambodians meet and mingle and learn about an NGO using dance to give kids a different kind of outlet.

From Go Guides

The group will continue to learn from young people when they visit an intentional community dedicated to resilience and regeneration while sleeping in tents under the open sky.

Then, in Kampot, students will spend a few days planting mangroves and stand up paddleboarding while learning about the impact on the local community.

From Workaway

Students will get a brief introduction to Theravada Buddhism at a retreat before heading off to the big city of Bangkok in Thailand.

Students will get their first taste of planning as they arrange their time around arts and culture in the big, dynamic fast paced city of Bangkok.  

From there, students will travel to the northern Thai city of Udon Thani to spend a week in an eco village. Here students will learn more about yoga, permaculture, natural building and explore creative solutions to increase sustainable practices.

Tourism Authority of Thailand

Students travel even further north to learn about the diverse hill tribe communities and human rights issues through homestays and local NGO’s while participating in service learning.

The time in Thailand finishes up with students guiding the direction of the group’s time before they head back home from Chiang Mai.

Where there be Dragons - Nepal itinerary

Our students Kilani and Samantha are traveling with Where There Be Dragons to Nepal and depart this Friday, February 10th. Here’s what is in store for them:

After landing, the group will stay in the shadow of the great Boudhanath Stupa, one of the world’s largest Buddhist monuments and the anchor of Kathmandu’s largest Buddhist community, and spend our first several days settling into Nepal, getting to know each other, and starting to explore. With morning walks to the Stupa, lots of tea breaks (!), there is plenty of time to orient, relax and overcome jet-lag.

From Boudha, the group will hike for several days into the Himalayan foothills, with lots of big ups and down across the gorgeous hills. Hiking through villages, fields, and forests will give a glimpse of the character of life in rural Nepal.

The group arrives at the ancient city of Patan in the center of the Kathmandu Valley, with breathtakingly intricate heritage and history that has thrived over many centuries. Here the group will live with families indigenous to Patan - a city of artisans, devotees, and an ancient spirit in the modern world. They will begin to learn Nepali and learn things wood carving and metalwork, yoga, traditional music, and dance.

East of Dhukillel, the group will spend hours each day engaging with another set of families – from harvesting crops to feeding cattle to carrying firewood, sipping tea on the porch, playing with village children, and more. They will also discuss issues of service, development, rural identity, and spirituality.

Next will be Namo Buddha, an important Tibetan Buddhist monastery perched atop a hill east of the Kathmandu Valley, where we will participate in a meditation retreat for one week.

After they bid goodbye to Namo Buddha, the group will embark on a two week long trek in the majestic Nepali Himalaya. The trek will take us to the heart of the mountains, the north central range of the Himalaya in Nepal soaring higher than 26000ft.

After the conclusion of our trek, the group will begin the Expedition Phase which are days left intentionally unplanned so that the group can find the best place to go based on their interests and thoughts.

Lastly, they finish up their time with rest, relaxation, and celebration in the hills of Pharping before returning back home!

Evaluation Updates

As we evaluate another program year, our findings remain consistent. Students continue to see how even their small actions make a difference. Many continue to clarify their goals through this program and feel reconnected to their goals.

One new finding this year is in large a result of the pandemic. Many students struggled with isolation during the pandemic. However, it is in community and socializing that confidence is often built up. Thanks to participating in a facilitated space that is intended to foster learning and positive connection, many students combatted their social anxiety.

“Before, I had really bad anxiety talking or interacting with anyone in my community. Couldn’t even ride the max or bus in case I had to talk to the driver. That was pretty much no interaction. 

[On the program] I had to interact with a lot of new people and live with strangers that were not people that I would have interacted with normally…I don’t know how to explain it. It felt like I was doing something more.

[Now] I feel like I can help out a little bit more than I thought. Before, if someone asks for help, I’d be like nope sorry. But now trying to help them a little bit is better than nothing. If everyone made some difference, then eventually those small differences would become something bigger.”

For many students returning home also poses its own challenges, namely the awareness that you cannot expect others to change along with you. However, many of them are continuing to seek ways to stay in the community, maintain their growth, and stay committed to their personal and professional goals even if the way forward is only a little more clear than before.

Saying Farewell to Founder, Hansell Bourdon Woods

This summer Carpe Mundi bid farewell to Hansell Woods after a 10 year tenure at Carpe Mundi. Hansell came to Portland in 2012 to transform Carpe Mundi from a scholarship organization to a holistic mentorship program that included a cohort learning experience. Hansell was the Executive Director for 6 years, and then transitioned to what she loved the most, supporting a cohort of students for the remainder of her time at Carpe Mundi. She was the primary mentor for 9 different cohorts, started Carpe Mundi's second program PDXchange, and was the foundation for building out our mentorship curriculum.

Simply put, Carpe Mundi wouldn't exist without Hansell. Her leadership, vision, and passionate advocacy of Carpe Mundi students will be deeply missed, but also are a part of Carpe Mundi's DNA.

In as early as October 2013, Portland’s larger community started to take notice of the effort to see the world as a classroom. Lisa K. Anderson wrote an article, ‘Making the world a classroom’, for Pamphlin’s Media Group. In the article, Hansell states, “You can only do as big as you dream,” Bourdon said. “If you’re not aware of it, you can’t dream of it. Through those opportunities, students realize, ‘Oh! I can do this. I can leave and do something totally different.’ ”

Hansell is a dreamer and a doer. She and her family have moved to Colorado to be closer to family. We can't wait to see what amazing initiatives she dreams up and cultivates for her new community.


why your help matters more than ever

Carpe Mundi is committed to making transformational study abroad opportunities available to students that might not otherwise have access to these experiences, including low-income students that are eligible for the Federal Pell Grant. For the past nine years, we’ve strategically leveraged various resources to make our programming as affordable as possible for our students. Those resources have included generous donations from you and our community of supporters, in-kind scholarship donations from Carpe Diem Education, and using students’ Federal and State Financial Aid through Portland State University. All of these resources are crucial for making this opportunity feasible for our students. 

Unfortunately, Carpe Mundi received news earlier this summer that Federal and State Financial Aid will be temporarily unavailable to our students for the foreseeable future. Portland State University’s Financial Aid Office is being audited by the Department of Education, and until this audit is finished, PSU is unable to issue financial aid to our students. Fortunately, our students are still able to earn two terms worth of PSU credit for their study abroad experience, they just won’t be eligible for financial aid for those credits. We learned this news after recruiting two cohorts of students who are eager to travel during the 2021-22 school year, nearly half of whom have waited over a year due to Covid postponing our 2020-21 programming. 

Our number one priority is ensuring that this decision impacts our current students as little as possible. They have worked hard to access this opportunity, and we are committed to making this experience a reality for them. While financial aid varies from student to student, a student would typically average around $6000 in Federal and State Financial aid to be applied to their study abroad costs. Our students simply cannot afford to bear that cost. Fortunately, Carpe Mundi has developed partnerships to allay a significant amount of that cost burden. However, Carpe Mundi still needs to raise an additional $15,000 above and beyond our annual fundraising initiatives to cover the loss in financial aid. Our 10th Annual Gala and Auction on November 11th will have our largest fundraising goal to date - $50,000 - in order to continue to make our programming accessible to our students. 

With your support, Carpe Mundi students and our community have persisted through a challenging past year and a half. We are more committed than ever to ensuring students will travel, safely and affordably, in February, 2022. We are consistently reminded of our students’ learnings while overseas: the importance of flexibility, seeing situations through new perspectives, and understanding that persevering through challenging situations makes you stronger and more confident in the future. We know we will overcome this new challenge, and will be stronger for it in the long run. Thank you for being on this journey with us. 

If you have any questions about how this change in financing will impact programming, please reach out to Rachel Anderholder - rachel@carpemundi.org. 

To learn more about our fundraising efforts this Fall, click the link below.