IOWA CITY, Iowa – George Washington’s face on the $1 bill may be smiling (sort of) here in the States, but he’s frowning over in Europe.

Because of the declining value of the dollar against foreign currency, the cost of study-abroad programs in the 2008 school year could see up to a 10 percent increase across the board, said Janis Perkins, the director of the Office for Study Abroad.

The University of Iowa’s costs reflects national trends, where the dollar’s performance against the euro, Japanese yen, and British pound has forced the cost of college study-abroad programs to rise 10 to 15 percent in the last few years, according to the Forum on Education Abroad.

The biggest challenge for the UI office, which sets its own fees for the programs it runs, is watching the dollar’s fluctuating exchange rates in recent months since it determines student fees and travel costs.

“We’re obsessed with it,” Perkins said. “It’s often the first thing we talk about in the morning.”

The dollar’s strength against the euro is particularly important, because the largest group of UI students travels to Western Europe. At the national level, the region hosts 57 percent of all American students abroad, according to the Institute of International Education.

Over the past year, the euro has increased around 12 percent in value against the dollar. In the same year, the U.S. currency has plummeted 5 percent against the pound, 7 percent against the yen, and 16 percent against the Canadian dollar.

For UI senior Jennifer Lickteig, who studied in Switzerland this past fall, withdrawing euros from her bank account was painful.

“It was frustrating, especially when I was traveling in Europe and Germany,” she said.

Despite the dollar’s recent deterioration and the rising costs of study abroad all across the nation, record numbers of students are packing their travel bags and getting their passports stamped.

“If anything has surprised us, it’s how little the decline of the dollar has affected interest in studying abroad,” Perkins said, noting that her office has seen 700 additional students express interest in studying abroad since fall 2006.

The number of UI students who study abroad continues to increase each year, she said.

In a similar pattern, the number of American students receiving academic credit for study abroad has increased almost 150 percent over the last decade – from 90,000 in 1995 to 223,534 students in 2005 – according to the Open Doors report, published by the Institute of International Education.

In recent years, students have been traveling to more non-European destinations, said Maureen Shelburn, the director of university relations of Cultural Experiences Abroad, a national for-profit provider of study-abroad programs.

“I suspect that because they may not be able to get as much for their dollars as they would have a year ago, they’re becoming more conscious of how far their dollars will travel,” she said.

UI junior Ryan Merz, who spent last summer in Oaxaca, Mexico, said his dollars stretched significantly and helped him save money for his trip to Argentina this spring.

“My dollar was amazing down there,” Merz said. “I could go to a fancy restaurant and get a four-course meal for $5.”

Travel south of the United States and to Asian countries has seen a dramatic increase over the last few years at the UI, Perkins said, although that might have more to do with increasing interest than with cost.