Study Abroad program hopes to increase participation rate

By Daing S. Nasir
Western Herald

The Simon Study Abroad Bill remains on the Congress agenda this year.

The bill was introduced as a precedent for Americans to study abroad and explore international horizons to learn about other cultures, languages and economies. The ultimate goal is to have one million students study abroad by the year 2015.

National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA) statistics show that most college freshmen say that they intend to study abroad, yet only one percent of the U.S. college population does so each year.
When asked if this was the case at Western Michigan University, Brett Berquist, Executive Director for international programs from the Haenicke Institute of Global Education (HIGE) said individual student study abroad statistics are not looked at until the student graduates.

“The national attention towards the bill has had a positive outcome and encouraging results on campus,” said Berquist.

“We take the number of students studying abroad in a given year and divide that by the number of degrees awarded overall.”

That method gives WMU a respectable standing of 11 percent in comparison to the national statistics.
“All [the students] need to do is come in and have a tailored advising session with a study abroad coordinator,” said Berquist. “[We] will then accommodate the student’s ability in education and also [in finance]. Financial aid and scholarships are definitely available.”

From studying engineering in Germany to learning Spanish in of Costa Rica, students are cordially invited to come in and express their study abroad desires and financial aid needs.

The information sessions run throughout the day in the HIGE resource room as a method of educating prospective candidates on the vast possibilities of studying abroad.

“Our mission is to meet [the students] where they are in their studies and also in their study abroad aspirations,” said Berquist.

In 2007 alone WMU gave out $400,000 in study abroad scholarships. In a recent ceremony WMU President John Dunn presented several scholarships and emphasized his commitment to international education, adding that he hopes to “double or even quadruple” WMU’s current annual average of 500 study abroad students.

Various programs from an array of fields are available to help students in their search for the ultimate experience abroad, ranging from a few weeks to a full academic year.

A landmark program conducted by WMU is the Grand Tour of Europe, which is held every summer. The program takes students across Europe while earning credits at the same time.

The program is a great pathway for freshmen and sophomores who have not been to Europe, or those who have but want a detailed tour of the continent’s major cities.

For those interested in creative writing, another landmark program with multiple scholarships for WMU students is the Prague Summer Program, which is collaboration between WMU and Charles University in the Czech Republic.

This program will enable students to work with the best professors and experts in the field of creative writing.

With grants and scholarships available, many language majors have turned to the HIGE to give them an exclusive opportunity to expand their international speaking capabilities.

More than $100,000 was recently awarded to 39 WMU students to study a foreign language abroad through the President’s Grant for Study Abroad administered by the HIGE.

These languages of study include German, Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Chinese, or the South African-based languages Xhosa, Afrikaan, or Zulu.

With a prospective academic year ahead, study abroad remains a federal contention to encourage American students to achieve academic excellence through a global perspective. With support from the international arena in defying our aspirations, study abroad remains a viable agenda for the 08-09 academic calendar, state and nationwide.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Sep 16 2008. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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