Growth accelerates in study-abroad programs

Cover up the title of the accompanying chart, and you might mistake it for the rocketing trajectory of the world’s hottest stock. Well, study-abroad programs are hot indeed on campuses across America, for reasons that range from the dollar’s strength to a dawning recognition of the global economy’s mounting power.

Students studying abroad 1961-2000 Related Web sites: Study Abroad programs International Studies and Programs International Institute

You can almost feel the heat radiating from this graph, which charts the growth of study-abroad programs offered through the International Academic Programs office at UW–Madison.

After two decades of slow growth, study-abroad blasted off from a 1981-82 plateau of fewer than 200 students to nearly 700 for 1999-2000. And that doesn’t count the students studying abroad through other campus units such as the School of Business and College of Engineering.

Business is booming in study-abroad programs throughout the United States. The Institute of International Education reports that in 1997-98 (the most recent year for which statistics are available) a total of 114,000 U.S. students earned credit for work abroad, a 15 percent jump over the previous year.

The most popular destination for American students is still Europe. But a decade ago, 80 percent went to Europe, compared to 64 percent now. During the same period, the portion of students going to Latin America has more than doubled, to about 15 percent.

“I think there are at least three reasons for that amazing growth,” says Joan Raducha, director of IAP. “First, the strong U.S. economy and U.S. dollar, and second, an increasing awareness among students that many employers are looking for international experience in their workforce in this global economy.”

A third reason, she says, is that “UW-Madison is working hard to diversify study-abroad choices for our students. Today they have many more options beyond the traditional full-semester or year-long programs.”

Options pop up everywhere on the Web site (http://www.wisc.edu/studyabroad/), which also includes hot links to other study-abroad programs on campus. You can, for example, spend a year studying Nepali culture in Kathmandu, or live for a semester in a Renaissance villa while studying in Florence, Italy, or serve three months as an intern with the Central Japan Railway Co., or live for a summer with a family in Oaxaca, Mexico, while learning Spanish.

Oh, the things you can do these days as a college student. And yes, these things cost money, but students can apply for extra financial aid through the university if the costs for a study-abroad year will be higher than staying on campus. In addition, Raducha’s office has some need-based travel grants available.

Cost aside for the moment, the beauty of study-abroad is much more than sightseeing-deep. Learning to live in another culture can tell you a great deal about your own, for instance.

Senior Melissa Knitter of Sun Prairie, Wis., spent a semester in Quito, Ecuador. She lived with a family in Quito, which proved to be a cultural eye-opener.

“I was amazed at the importance of the family in Ecuador,” she says. “Children live with their families until they’re married, and everyone is not afraid to feel dependent on each other at different stages of their lives.”

Contrast that with America, the land of independence, both political and personal. “My brother and sister live in the South, so I don’t see them much. But after my semester in Ecuador, I appreciate more what connections my family does have.”