IIE

Roosevelt jumpstarts study abroad interest

IIE — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:09:00 GMT

Recently, Roosevelt University held a Study Abroad Fair which allowed students to learn more about studying abroad. One student, David Muirhead, shared his experience studying abroad in England. Read more about David’s time in England in the Roosevelt Torch.

Increasing minority access to study abroad

IIE — Thu, 03 May 2012 21:07:00 GMT

According to recent studies, there is a lack of participation by minority students in study abroad programs. Last year over 270,000 students studied overseas, but only 21% of those students were minorities. Read more about this issue in The Daily Texan.

Queens College among 11 US colleges chosen for year-long program to foster educational partnerships with India

IIE — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:04:00 GMT

Helen Gaudette, Director of Queens College’s Office of Global Education Initiatives, recently had the trip of a lifetime visiting over fifteen schools in three cities in just six days. The purpose of this trip was to increase academic alliances between colleges in the US and India. Read more about this program in the CUNY Newswire.

Ohio Wesleyan students to visit India to study ‘living the Gandhian Philosophy’

IIE — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:02:00 GMT

Seven students from Ohio Wesleyan University will spend their spring break participating in a program titled “Living the Gandhian Philosophy” at Lady Shri Ram College for Women in New Delhi. Read more about the program in the India Education Diary.

US needs to better use its ‘soft power’

IIE — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:59:00 GMT

Policy makers are taking a deeper look into what provides the greatest ROI; putting money into the State Department or the Defense Department? Some feel that giving money to the State Department to improve and promote student exchange programs could help improve our international relationships. Click here to read more about this debate.

Texas A&M Announces Gilman Scholarship Recipients

IIE — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:59:00 GMT

Five students from Texas A&M University have recently received the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship for the spring 2012 semester. These students will be studying in Argentina, Brazil, Germany, France, and China. Click here to read more from the Tamu Times about these students and what they hope to gain from their study abroad experiences.

More Americans to study abroad

IIE — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:57:00 GMT

Even though there are already a large number of American students studying abroad each year, the number is estimated to grow. Thanks to the demand for an increasingly global workforce and the rising cost of higher education in America, many students are considering studying abroad. Click here to read more from The Australian.

Association Seeks to Diversify Study Abroad Programs

IIE — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:30:00 GMT

While the number of students studying abroad increases each year, there is still a lack of diversity in the types of students participating in these programs. Director of Education Abroad at the University of Kentucky estimates that 80% of the students who are studying abroad are white and more than 50% do not receive financial aid. Click here to read more from the US News University Directory about what schools should try to do to increase the diversity in these programs.

Study Abroad Destinations: 10 Best Countries

IIE — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:52:00 GMT

Upwards of 300,000 American students will study abroad this year. Can you guess what the number one destination is? Read this article from the Huffington Post to find out.

Number of foreign students studying abroad in America increases

IIE — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:30:00 GMT

Just as many American students are attempting to study abroad, many international students are trying to obtain an education in America. However the big difference is while American students typically spend one semester abroad, international students prefer to get their entire education in America. The number of international students that are studying in America is currently 720,000 while only 270,000 American students studied abroad in the 2009-2010 academic year according to the IIE. Click here to read more from USA Today College about the types of students that come to America to study and to hear about Lee Broda’s experiences.

136 study abroad programs at Skidmore College continue to enroll more and more students each semester

IIE — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:17:56 GMT

Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY has over 136 study abroad programs. Each year more and more Skidmore students choose to study abroad; in the 2009-2010 academic year approximately 65% of students spent a semester overseas. Diana Baron and Chaoer Chen are just two of the many students who took advantage of Skidmore’s programs. Diana and Chaoer both revisited countries they had fallen in love with before; Diana choose to study in Berlin, Germany while Chaoer travelled to Florence, Italy. Click here to read more about Diana and Chaoer’s experiences and what advice they have for students who are planning to study abroad.

Open Doors Round Up

IIE — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:46:00 GMT

IIE kicked off International Education Week by releasing the 2011 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. According to the report, 270,604 U.S. students studied abroad for credit during the academic year 2009/10, compared to 260,327 the previous year. The Open Doors report, released on Monday, November 14 in Washington, D.C. by Assistant Secretary Ann Stock (R) and IIE President and CEO Allan Goodman, is published annually by the Institute of International Education in partnership with the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Study abroad by students enrolled in U.S. higher education has more than tripled over the past two decades. The increase shown in this year’s Open Doors report returns to the steady rise in study abroad numbers each year since the data has been tracked, with the exception of 2008/09, when world economic conditions had caused a slight dip.The United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France and China, remained the top host destinations. Each of these destinations hosted more U.S. students in 2009/10 than the prior year, with increases ranging from two to five percent. There has been a surge of interest in study in China in the past decade, with nearly 14,000 students studying in China in 2009/10 compared to fewer than 3,000 in 1999/00.

The report found notable increases in U.S. students going to study in many of the less traditional destinations. Fifteen of the top 25 destinations were outside of Western Europe and nineteen were countries where English is not a primary language. There was a 44 percent increase in U.S. students going to India. Israel, Brazil and New Zealand also showed large percentage gains. Substantial increases were reported in U.S. students going to Egypt.

To learn more about U.S. study abroad, check out the Open Doors portal iie.org/opendoors and these news highlights: Study Abroad Programs Prepare Students for Global Marketplace, US students set sights beyond Europe, Hilary Clinton to Students: "Get Out" (and Study Abroad), More Students Study Abroad, 10 Colleges With the Most Students Studying Abroad, Why American Students are Choosing to Study Abroad.

The Mountain Press: Study abroad if you ever get the chance

IIE — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:30:00 GMT

Aug 28, 2011 - By Anna Yacovone

It’s been a little over two months since I’ve been back in the U.S. from Asia and almost nine months since I first stepped onto a plane headed for the wilds of Thailand.

Before returning, I was warned about what’s called the “re-entry phase,” a stage most study abroad students experience as they find themselves in a minor slump post-return. I even braced myself just in case the happiness from seeing my friends and family would slowly subside, and in exchange, my longing for my friends and time in Asia would overcome me.

But preparation or not, in no way was I ever ready for these memories to grip me so tightly.

However, on the plus side, rewind to two months ago and I was giddy as ever when I spotted my first Vols fan sighting at the Washington, D.C., airport. A young gentleman sitting across from me at the terminal wore a bright Vols orange cap, and I couldn’t help but beam with excitement. And right as my plane touched down at the McGee Tyson airport, I zoomed by the other passengers and straight into the arms of my family.

Being back in Smokies did wonders for me, and I reveled in my days sipping sweet tea and enjoying hearty southern food and good company. But now that I’m back in Murfreesboro and preparing to finish up my last semester at MTSU before graduation, I can’t help but compare my post-study abroad blues to a bad breakup.

Thailand was y first true country-love, and it’s taking some time and self-preservation not to make a hasty move like call up Thailand and plead, “Can’t we try this again?”

Nonetheless, like I mentioned in my last article, I’m happy for those sentimental feelings. I wouldn’t trade my time abroad for anything – except well, for maybe more time abroad.

I wanted to address this last article through to any and all high school students in Sevier County. To those students, who may have even the tiniest bit of curiosity to study abroad in college, I guarantee if you want it badly enough, you can go abroad.

Like most of my dear friends in my hometown, I come from humble beginnings and a family who upholds Appalachian spirit by redefining the meaning of hard work. This industriousness has fortunately blessed me with scholarships that enable me to comfortable attend MTSU. But even so, studying abroad is still a costly endeavor that requires intense planning and careful consideration.

Luckily, I was fortunate enough to receive the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. Established by the Institute of International Education, this scholarship only allows Pell Grant recipients to apply so that students typically underrepresented may study abroad. As a first-generation college student hailing from the heart of Appalachia and wanting to study in Thailand, I was granted this award and was able to fulfill my dreams.

It’s changed my life inexpressibly, and though I’m the same old-fashioned gal who enjoys hiking the mountains and living a simple life, I’m a better version of myself. I’m stronger and more confident and patient than before, and any time a challenge comes my way, I laugh and think, If I survived Thailand, this will be a piece of cake.

I’ve also deepened my interest in learning about other cultures, and as our world’s borders shift closer and closer, it’s important we understand our international neighbors, no matter how far the distance may seem. One such neighbor I’ll always greet with open arms is Thailand, a country where, though the culture and lifestyles are extremely different, I found that whether we’re Thai or American, we’re all one in the same trying to simply live this life.

I encourage any students interested in studying abroad to start their research now because it’s never too soon to think about how to tie this into your college experience. Also, I encourage both parents and students to feel free about asking me or a university study abroad office questions.

After six months of living in Southeast Asia, I can wholeheartedly affirm that the world is not as scary as it may seem and that the benefits of having international experience on your resume are endless.

To sum up my last column, it’s been a joy sharing my experiences with my beloved hometown, and I am so grateful for The Mountain Press to give me this opportunity.

Again, if ever you have questions about Thailand, studying abroad or travel in general, please don’t be a stranger. As a final note, to all the students in Sevier County, the world is a magnificent place to explore endlessly and fervently so please, go forth and enjoy.

Sevier County resident Anna Yacovone can be contacted by email to annamayyacovone@gmail.com.

Party Hard, Study Harder

IIE — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:03:00 GMT

Sep 11, 2011 11:00 AM EDT

The stakes are getting higher for U.S. college students in programs abroad—and it’s not just about going wild overseas

“In every study-abroad program, you’re going to find students who just want to drink and sleep around,” says Jonah Newman, a senior at Northwestern. “But people traveling to the Middle East, to parts of Asia, to places that are on the world stage—where interesting things are happening—you’re going to find more serious students.”

Newman, who spent the fall of his junior year in Morocco, should know. He’s the editor of The 195, a thriving website where more than 100 Northwestern students have chronicled their semesters overseas—studying obstetrics in Chile, TV news in China, Arabic in Jordan. Their tales show that American college students, eyeing an uncertain job market, are turning to study-abroad programs to prepare them for a global economy, in which new cultures, languages, and ways of doing business are critical.

As the number of U.S. students going overseas has doubled in the last decade, the comfort-zone countries—the U.K., Italy, Spain, and France—still draw the most scholars, about 40 percent of the total. But emerging-economy locales like Argentina, South Africa, Chile, and South Korea have seen double-digit growth as destinations, according to the Institute of International Education, which has tracked data through the 2008–09 school year. In all, 15 of the top 25 study-abroad countries are now outside Western Europe. African nations are up 16 percent. (One outlier is India, which has seen a 15 percent decline despite being a coming economic powerhouse.)

China in particular is hot; it now draws more students annually than Australia, and is the fifth most popular destination overall. Several big programs there emphasize work experience, like Columbia University’s Summer Business Chinese and Internship Program in Shanghai. Students of advanced Mandarin get six weeks of intense language instruction that teaches office jargon and workplace behavior; then they intern for a month at Chinese corporations. “I think students recognize that in today’s workplace they need to have specific overseas experience to show that they are citizens of the world, that they have cross-cultural competencies that will help them have more options down the line,” says Michael Pippenger, the school’s dean of undergraduate global programs.

There’s a reason that the stereotype of an American student abroad is that of a wobbly comparative-lit theorist: liberal-arts majors are flexible, and can easily accommodate a semester of downing sauvignon blanc by the Seine. Engineering students have long been left out, because their more rigorous curricula are laden with required classes that keep them in the States. That’s beginning to change at schools like Washington University in St. Louis, where deans are identifying overseas programs that won’t derail science- and math-focused majors. One elite destination is Bogaziçi University in Istanbul, which offers top-level hard-science instruction in English. “The majority of students [going abroad] are still in social sciences and languages,” says Priscilla Stone, assistant provost for international education at Washington University, where almost half of undergraduates spend time overseas. “But there’s increasing interest in more technical fields, because everyone recognizes that our futures are so global, no matter what area we’re in.”

For many students abroad, the most globally interconnected they’ll get is a drink order that includes a white Russian, an Irish car bomb, and a Tokyo tea. Even so, college administrators say, if the experience is in a culture crucial to the way many businesses are now organized, it can give them a leg up in the job market. Especially when paired with an internship, even a few months’ time out of the United States can help them enter companies that have, say, suppliers in China, customers in Brazil, and colleagues in India. “Just getting them abroad makes such a difference, regardless of the program,” says Stone, who plays down the partying angle. “They don’t want to waste a semester. They realize it’s one eighth of their college experience, so most of them are pretty serious about their work abroad. There are temptations of travel, etc.—and we recognize that that can be enriching, too.”

Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.

Nick Summers is a senior writer for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. Previously, he was the media columnist for The New York Observer, founded the blog Ivy Gate, and was editor in chief of the Columbia Daily Spectator.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.

Using Hootsuite to Maximize Staff Time

IIE — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:23:53 GMT

Laura Moix, Study Abroad & Exchange Coordinator, University of Arkansas

We use the program Hootsuite, a social media communication dashboard, to help streamline our delivery process and schedule news releases in advance so that we maximize our small staff’s resources and time. This program allows us to update Facebook and Twitter simultaneously, with stories ranging from Virtual Student Foreign eInternships from the U.S. Department of State to advice for students looking for a job overseas, to updates on different scholarships. With this steady stream of pertinent information, we are able to keep study abroad visible not only for University of Arkansas students, but also for faculty, staff, administrative offices, and the larger Northwest Arkansas community.

EducationUSA: Helping Admission Staff Reach Students

IIE — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:01:00 GMT

By Diane Weisz Young, Program Officer, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State

The EducationUSA Network recognizes that many college and university admission offices have increasingly smaller travel budgets and invites admissions staff to participate in the EdUSA Connects live webinar series. Join as a guest speaker for an informational session on your institution and reach hundreds of prospective students! Institutions may also work with individual centers and hold targeted sessions with students from a particular country or region. To participate in an EdUSA Connects session follow the following steps:

Sign up for an EducationUSA website login at www.educationusa.info/secure
Once you are logged in, click on “Participate in EdUSA Connects”

EducationUSA team members also offer presentations on recruitment opportunities and credential evaluations to the U.S. higher education community and virtual college fairs. For more information, visit the higher education portal on the EducationUSA website: www.educationusa.info. For more information, contact Diane WeiszYoung at youngdw@state.gov.

Meeting the Cost of Critical Language Instruction

IIE — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:17:00 GMT

By Greenville Technical College (GTC)

As part of a grant obligation, Greenville Technical College (GTC) was confronted in 2009 with the question of how to offer Arabic language instruction with few resources to a student body that had expressed interest in the language. As there are only three Arabic programs in the entire state, none of which are in upstate South Carolina, GTC needed to become an innovator within the South Carolina Technical System, as well as a key player within the statewide network of higher education.

Through careful research, GTC identified the U.S. Distance Arabic Learning Network (USADLN) as an alternative to hiring a qualified Arabic instructor from the surrounding area. The USADLN delivers one-hour long Arabic lessons twice a week via satellite feed from Montana State University. In addition, GTC holds two language labs each week to review the most recent lesson; these are led by an onsite Arabic teaching assistant. In Fall 2010, GTC enrolled 25 students in Beginner’s Arabic I; student feedback has been extremely positive.

Maximizing Social Media with Limited Resources

IIE — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:44:00 GMT

By Lisa Brown, Coordinator of Study Abroad, Eastern Illinois University

Since the Study Abroad Office at Eastern Illinois University has limited staff and resources, we elected to focus our social media efforts on Facebook. For International Education Week, we held a contest in which our staff dressed in international clothing, posted pictures of themselves on Facebook, and asked students to guess the country from which the clothing came. Winners were entered in a lottery to win a $20 gift card. Such efforts have helped our Facebook to grow by over 200 percent in the past year and a half.

Incorporating Facebook into Pre-Departure Sessions

IIE — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:57:00 GMT

By Dena Roberts, Study Abroad Advisor, University of Florida

To encourage students to become our fans on Facebook, we incorporated Facebook into our pre-departure sessions. We knew students would have their laptops and phones tuned to the Internet, so instead of trying to beat them by asking them to turn those devices off, we joined them. At the beginning of the session, we encouraged students to take out their Internet device and become a fan our Facebook page. Throughout the pre-departure session, we asked questions on Facebook about material that had just been presented. The best answer or first one to answer won a prize immediately after the pertinent section ended. This was a great medium to keep students engaged in the pre-departure information and ensure that they would visit our Facebook page regularly. We now have 1,200+ fans on our Facebook site thanks to the interaction during pre-departure sessions.

Where in the World is Purdue Pete?

IIE — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:15:00 GMT

By Michael Bittinger, Marketing Coordinator, Purdue University Office of Study Abroad

In a cross between “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” and “Where’s Waldo?”, Purdue University has incorporated its beloved mascot, Purdue Pete, into its social media strategy. With help from Photoshop, you may find him crossing the street in Melbourne, Australia, or stumbling through the dye pits of Fez, Morocco. Pictures are posted on Facebook, where followers are challenged to identify Pete’s location. Tweets and blogs urge followers to guide Pete back to campus.

The goal is to actively engage followers and attract new ones during summer, when students are hard to reach. We know that friends convince friends to study abroad. Facebook activity is visible friend to friend. Pete helps start the conversation that generates more access to our target audience.

Pete makes the conversation multidirectional. Unless students are compelled to contribute they are being talked at instead of communicated with. It’s a personal approach. A familiar face is spreading our message. Purdue Pete makes our use of media truly social.