[J.A.Sucker]

Like I said originally, it depends. First of all, you need to be ACCEPTED. Second, this policy depends on the department. For sciences, you are a slave to them for five to six years. Thus, they have a huge incentive to get you there and to make sure you want to stay there. For non-sciences, they don't even pay you, so they may not care. For econ, I don't know. If you don't have anyone to ask this question to, then you don't have a good enough reference to get you in, anyway. Seriously.

As for the total cost, it may be capped at some number for the airline ticket (700 bucks, maybe), and for foreign students they may ask you to coordinate several schools, which isn't really that hard. I know I spent tons of money on those trips - great bottles of booze, top-notch hotels (though you may want to stay with students, and I did this too), and top restaurants. It was a good time, plus you really learn about the schools, prof's and people. Very worthwhile.