Georgetown University students and faculty had the opportunity to obtain or renew their U.S. passports through the Office of Global Education’s first passport fair Nov. 17.
Part of OGE’s 2017 International Education Week from Nov. 13 to 17, a joint project of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education established to promote educational programs to prepare American students for global engagement, the event was held in the Car Barn and hosted representatives from the U.S. Postal Service, who met with undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff to process their passport applications.
Approximately 46 percent of Americans held passports as of December 2016.
Sixty-five students reserved appointments through OGE’s web portal, and the event welcomed walk-in applicants. In addition to passport processing, the event provided students with the opportunity to consult with available study abroad advisers about their travel plans.
For applicants like De’Ara Graves (COL ’21), the event’s appeal was more than a matter of convenience, as OGE also funded scholarships for students who were unable to afford the $110 passport application fee.
“I’ve been meaning to get my passport for a really long time, but my family couldn’t necessarily afford it,” Graves said.
Graves said she now hopes that obtaining her passport will take her one step closer to mastering Spanish through a direct matriculation program in Spain.
Approximately 46 percent of Americans held passports as of December 2016, according to a recent study conducted and published by Matt Stabile, founder and editor-in-chief of The Expeditioner, a travel site.
Georgetown University students and faculty had the opportunity to obtain or renew their U.S. passports through the Office of Global Education’s first passport fair Nov. 17.
Stabile said financial reasons may be a key prohibitive factor in the low rate of passport holders.
“One factor discouraging foreign travel is quite simply that it’s cost-prohibitive for the average American, many of whom are still reeling from the Great Recession,” Stabile wrote in the December 2016 report. “When factoring in the costs of traveling abroad from the U.S. (which tends to be much higher than other parts of the world given its location), even the cheapest international trip is simply beyond the means for the average American.”
Stories like that of Graves motivated OGE to organize the event after the USPS first pitched the idea to the office in January. Representatives from the agency had recently participated in successful passport fairs at The George Washington University on Nov. 1 and George Mason University on Sept. 26.
Students with earlier time slots encountered a delayed process because USPS officials arrived 40 minutes late. As a result of the late start, some students had to reschedule their appointments or forgo their applications. Additionally, representatives from the State Department were initially scheduled to assist with the process but ultimately cancelled their appearance.
Despite issues in the event’s inaugural iteration, the OGE tentatively plans to host another passport fair in partnership with the USPS during next year’s International Education Week.
Other events from International Education Week included an international graduate alumni panel discussion and the 2017 Davis Chair Lecture, “A World of Everyone and No One: The Return of Piracy and the New Global Disorder.”
Susan Hochreiter, assistant director of operations and administration for OGE, said passports are crucial for students who wish to travel abroad.
“When you have your passport, it takes away one more barrier,” Hochreiter said. “We hope this makes it all the more available to students.”
