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For five summers, University of Pittsburgh student Liz Nabasny worked six days a week as a personal assistant to save money for her summer study abroad program in Rome.

The money she made doesn't cover the cost of living and traveling in Europe, so she's using earnings from her job at a Pitt administrative office and a loan from her parents to help pay for the trip.

Still, Nabasny, who is in Rome until August, is living on a budget.

"Two of my roommates were here for both summer sessions and spent their budget for the entire summer in the first session," she said in an e-mail.

Some students who have studied in foreign countries said they cut back on travel and eating in restaurants because their money doesn't go as far overseas.

One euro is worth about $1.58. The British pound is worth nearly $2.

Nabasny, 20, of Yardley in Bucks County, said she buys enough food to cook meals for a week to save money. She has traveled to Pisa, Italy, and plans to go to Venice and Pompeii but decided not to tour several other cities because of the cost.

"I had to prioritize where I really wanted to go and then find the truly unique experiences," said Nabasny.

Despite the weak dollar, the number of students from local universities who choose to study abroad has increased, according to administrators from Pitt, Duquesne University, Carnegie Mellon University and Penn State University.

According to Pitt's data, 362 students studied abroad during the spring semester -- 14 more than in spring 2007.

Annagene Yucas, director of Pitt's study abroad office, said foreign study is a priority for many undergraduate students, who can use student travel discounts and hostels to help make the experience affordable.

"What they study in the classroom, when they go abroad they are able to see and practice," Yucas said. "They have a considerable amount of cultural learning that goes on that we can't duplicate on the home campus."

Nellie Siem, a Pitt student who spent the spring semester in London, said she felt it was important to study abroad to supplement the courses she takes as an art history major. She spent her first few weeks in London converting different prices into U.S. dollars, but stopped when she realized there wasn't much she could do about the higher prices.

"My bank account suffered, but I had a better time because of it," said Siem, 20, of Squirrel Hill. "There was no way around it. Everything was going to be expensive."

Siem said she bought basic foods, such as eggs, bread, milk and cheese, and stayed away from more expensive American foods at the grocery store. "Easy Mac would be 14 pounds for a small box of it, and I didn't even go near it. It wasn't even an option," she said.

Other students said they tried to avoid buying extra food items, such as candy bars, but ate most meals in restaurants because of convenience.

Brock Sizer, who will be a senior at Pitt this fall, obtained a loan to go to London in spring '08. He said the program tuition was less expensive than what he pays to attend Pitt's business school, but he used part of the money to travel across Europe and buy extra meals when he used the food stipend provided through the program.

"If I had gone to the grocery store and bought 40 pounds worth of food to eat at home, then I would have been fine, but my friends and I usually ate out," said Sizer, 21, of New Castle.

At Duquesne, the number of students in study abroad programs has remained steady between this year and last year, said Kelly Dougherty, assistant director for study abroad in the university's Office of International Programs. She tells students about the exchange rate for the dollar and the euro, but most students don't care, she said.

Most become more frugal upon arriving overseas, she said.

Ben Easler, who is entering his senior year at Duquesne, will spend the fall semester at the university's campus in Rome. A music education major, Easler has been teaching guitar and saxophone lessons and working for his parents' business to pay for the extra costs -- a $950 study-abroad fee, airfare and personal and travel expenses. He is taking two summer classes so he can graduate on time, and said the experience will be worth it.

"The first couple of years when I'm out of college, I'm not really going to have the money then," said Easler, 21, of Hampton, who has never been to Europe. "I think it's relatively inexpensive, compared to what you would pay on your own to take a trip like this. I mean, it's three months long, and it's really not that much more than a semester at Duquesne."

Easler's girlfriend, Megan Curley, wanted to study abroad in Rome this fall but decided it would be too expensive. Curley said she thought she could work this summer to pay for the trip, until she realized her earnings wouldn't stretch as far in Rome.

"I think it takes you actually experiencing it over there," said Curley, who has been to Europe three times, most recently in November. "It's such an incredible expense. People don't realize it until they get there."

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