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  • "GESI is about engaging a world that is bigger, more exciting, and more complex than most people imagine. This abroad experience has allowed me to learn more about myself as a student, a partner in the work world, and as a member of humanity, and I'm looking forward to my continued growth in all these capacities."

    - Tarik Patterson

  • "GESI is not a program that teaches you how to help others. It is one that enables you to turn "others" into "us". It is real living with real people, and immerses you into a culture that is as sophisticated and complex as your own."

    - Michelle Kim

  • "GESI exposed me to the difficult but rewarding realities of community development: True impact comes from work at the grittiest level. If you're considering a career in a non-profit, NGO, social work, or anything that supports your community, an experience like this is vital."

    - Kirk Vaclavik

  • "There are two ways of learning: by keeping your nose to a book or by opening your eyes to the world. GESI provides the rare learning opportunity as it combines both forms. I know I have walked away invariably changed for the better."

    - Kalindi Shah

  • "Our project involved community members in every conceivable way. My relationships built with community members were my most proud and lasting accomplishments."

    –Sebastian Buffa

  • "I was looking for an opportunity to create lasting change--both in a community and in myself. GESI sets its participants up with the necessary tools and skills, and then gives them complete freedom to learn, fail, rework, and eventually succeed."

    - Rena Oppenheimer

  • "The program has given me a glimpse into what it is like to work internationally at the grassroots level. Having the hands on experience that the program has given me, I feel like I am one step ahead for other jobs in the development sector."

    - Ashley Fu

  • "The experience has given me a new perspective on everything from washing the dishes to how to address world hunger... I will be returning to the lessons I learned on this trip decades from now."

    - Alexis Suskin-Sperry

  • "The most unique aspect of this program is the opportunity to act on a theory that we had learned. GESI is a unique opportunity to experience how development theories, methodologies and practices actually play out in a community."

    - Lakshmi Ramachandran

  • "I will always treasure my home-stay experience. I became very close with my siblings and loved having a large family. I learned that wherever you are, a family is a family and life is lived day to day."

    - Ellen Abrams

  • "My home-stay was one of the best aspects of my summer. My sisters taught me so much about Ugandan culture as well as life in general. We have grown up on different sides of the world but we may as well as lived next door."

    - Chelsea Christman

  • "Professor Arntson's team building exercises and classes about group dynamics were invaluable. They gave our team the vocabulary and tools to mediate conflicts and make decisions while abroad and helped us understand each other's motivations."

    - Catherine Wu

  • "Our NGO let us work independently, but took co-ownership of our project, which was comforting as we were creating a proposal for them and we required input and feedback to know that our work had a purpose."

    - Elizabeth Montgomery

  • "Being at our NGO was the single best part of the trip. I loved the community, and I loved the people there. It is an amazing NGO that does amazing things. The challenges we faced taught us to overcome obstacles."

    - Alex Grubman

  • "The FSD site team was incredible. I've never worked with such capable, caring, fun people. They made me feel so at home and safe and also really supported us with our NGO."

    - Asha Toulmin

  • "I am very impressed by the commitment and intelligence of the fellow students in GESI. I definitely learned much from them."

    - XinKai Cheng

  • "The diversity of our group made us effective -- while others preferred to work on logistical, behind-the-scenes stuff; some were outspoken, others were more contemplative; some were better planners, some were better at actuating ideas on paper."

    - Abby Hannifan

  • "This program gave new meaning to hands on learning. The background at the institute on development was great, and a week later you were on site attempting to implement what you had learned, and in the process learning far more than you could imagine."

    - Rachel Suffrin

  • "The most unique thing was the amount of exposure we got to the community. I felt like I was a part of it and not just observing it."

    - Bryan Stenson

  • "This experience was absolutely applicable to my personal, professional, academic goals, especially when it comes to approaching development with a realistic perception of how it works on the ground."

    - Elizabeth Montgomery

  • "GESI has helped me mature as a team member and a prospective development worker."

    - C.A.

Cost

The cost of GESI is $7,500. The program fee allows GESI to provide students with expert guidance pre and post departure, additional support in-country, grounding in theory and practice of international development, opportunities to compare development in different regions, and experience working in a team setting.

GESI leverages the best of our on-the-ground partners–in country support, community connections, health, safety, logistics–and the best of Northwestern University–experiential teaching, access to experts in the field, structured reflection to frame your experience, alumni networks, and greater support to meet your academic goals.

In addition to the two course credits participants receive, GESI provides its students additional academic and personal enrichment opportunities through guest lectures and classroom instruction by country-experts, language teachers, development practitioners, and others. The program is designed to help students build skills that are difficult to acquire as an undergraduate but greatly valued by employers–skills such as project management, team-work experience, leadership, budgeting, and impact evaluation.

As a Northwestern University-affiliated program, GESI charges tuition for two course credits. To put this into perspective, the cost for two classes during the school year is approximately $6,640. The majority of the $7,500 therefore goes to course tuition, which allows us to provide participants with access to scholars, expert development practitioners, language instructors, professionals in a range of fields, and Northwestern faculty. The remaining amount goes toward fees associated with the on-the-ground experience, including homestays and in-country educational programming.

Fee includes:

  • Tuition for two Northwestern courses
  • Lodging and three meals per day in Chicago and in-country
  • Country programming, orientation upon arrival, homestay, language instruction, and work transportation stipend
  • Access to emergency evacuation coverage from International SOS, the world’s leading international healthcare, medical assistance, and security services company
  • 24/7 on-the-ground support for health, safety, and other issues

Not included in this fee:

  • Travel to and from Chicago for the Summits (students responsible for making these arrangements)
  • Airfare to host country (GESI will organize group tickets at students’ expense)
  • HTH health insurance (required). For reference, the insurance coverage for the entirety of the GESI 2011 program cost $66.64.

    • See the financial aid & scholarships page for information on managing the program costs.

Deposit

Northwestern Students: Students who are admitted and accept a spot on the GESI program will be billed by Northwestern for the full program cost of $7,500 (airfare not included) on May 10th, and the full payment will be due on June 1st. If you withdraw from the program after submitting a signed Intent to Enroll form, you will be charged a minimum $1,000 cancellation fee plus unrecoverable costs incurred on your behalf by the program office.

Non-Northwestern Students:: Students who accept a place in the GESI program will be required to submit a $1,000 non-refundable deposit (which will be applied to the overall program fee) within 10 days of acceptance to the program. Your remaining program balance will be billed by Northwestern on May 10th. All fees must be paid by June 1st. The GESI program costs $7,500. Airfare is not included. If you submit a signed Intent to Enroll form but do not submit a $1,000 deposit within 10 days after the program’s confirmation deadline, you are subject to an additional $500 penalty fee. If you withdraw from your program after submitting a signed Intent to Enroll form, you will be charged for unrecoverable costs incurred on your behalf by the program office, and your deposit will not be refunded.