Border controls in Spain might have become stricter, too. I have heard that after the new Ley de Extranjeria has entered into force, it is more difficult for non-EU foreigners to work in Spain.
I would take a roundtrip ticket in any case- it is not worth to take the risk, and one way is hardly ever cheaper than a good deal for a roundtrip ticket anyway.

I have found another website (sees to be good) concerning cheap airline fairs. Airtech.com. As long as you are flexible with departure dates, you can recieve big discounts. I think I am going to go with the one way ticket to Spain. Even though my classes go on in Barcelona for only 90 days, I'm hoping I won't have a problem with customs. If worse comes to worse, I can use the same approach to return to the States, even though I plan on staying and working in Spain without papers after 90 days. If I must leave the country, I could just hop up to France, and then return to Spain. Am I being too naive regarding this whole visa process?

Hopping to France will do you no good. You must leave the EU if you're looking for a stamp.

Oh - how about portugal? Is there a certain amount of time you must leave for?

You have to go to Marocco for a stamp. Portugal and France are both EU members. You can try Switzerland too but when I went they didn't even look at my passport. It was raining and Mr. Policeman did not want to leave his little hut.

I think Morrocco will turn into one of my best friends. (I believe this post will earn me a coveted 'flaming folder' - I hope so

Also, if you don't want to go all the way to Morocco, you can go to Andorra, it's much closer.

I bought a stand-by voucher with Airhitch which sounds similar to what you bought through Airtech, Jason, but a word of warning, sometimes companies drop Airhitch and no longer accept the vouchers. This happened to me and I had to turn in my vouchers plus some extra cash to trade them for a ticket. Also, I just bought a cell phone (one with a card, not a contract) for 10.000 pstas. I receive calls from anywhere free and they give you a card worth 4.000 pstas with your purchase. Much cheaper than the US... Anyway, good luck.

I actually bought my plane ticket through student council travel/ round trip from Boston to Barcelona for 740$. I am able to change the date on the back end for only 25$ so this seems like a pretty good deal - I have one layover in Belgium. I decided to bypass the uncertainty of Airhitch.

Back to the insurance thing- I lived in Spain on a tourist visa for 6 months and would have stayed longer if I didn't nearly get deported. I got private health insurance which is the same as it is in the USA- the company was called Sanitas. It costs 20,000 ptas every 3 months but they may have other types of coverage. You can also get travel insurance in the USA which will cover you in case of an emergency. I didn't have any trouble renting an apartment, and my boss hooked me up with a bank account.