With the ever-sliding dollar haunting his every purchase, it’s lucky for Adam Renz that some of his fondest memories from his semester studying in Rome were free.

That cloudless, starry night when the Baylor University international affairs student sat with friends for hours at an outdoor cafe in Piazza Navona, and an accordionist and string quartet just happened to be playing in the distance.

The fact that everywhere he went, he traveled by St. Peter’s Basilica because of the location of his apartment.

And the locals he met along the way, with whom he still keeps in touch.

With the greenback down by more than 20 percent against the euro and about 6 percent against the British pound in the last two years, many college programs have had to raise the costs of study-abroad programs. And that doesn’t even take in to account basic daily expenses.

Yes, those dishes upon dishes of fresh, handmade pasta Renz happily devoured for six months came with a hefty price tag indeed.

Renz, 22, would cringe every time he had to shell out $6 for a Coke.

Or $5 for a candy bar — and not one of those fancy Italian chocolate bars.

Or $12 for a beer — and it wasn’t even the German kind that includes more alcohol.

Mike Morrison, director of the Center for International Education at Baylor, said the school has done its best to curb the costs to students by purchasing foreign currencies to lock in a rate. He said the center began this practice this past fall and plans to purchase more at the start of this school year.