MSU officials set a goal to double study abroad enrollment in the next five years, after returning from a conference they hosted in Washington, D.C. earlier this week.
The 300-person conference focused on participant’s safety and allowing a more diverse group of students to participate. MSU’s study abroad program is already the nation’s largest, offering more than 160 programs in more than 50 countries.
“Schools from all over the country participated,” MSU President M. Peter McPherson said. “What was clear in some of the presentations was the more participation is possible if we could keep costs down.”
McPherson said institutions wanted “democratization” of their programs.
“Meaning that we need to make costs reasonable to make it more feasible for students to study abroad,” he said.
Nearly half of all students entering universities want to study abroad but only a small fraction actually do, said McPherson. Roughly one in every five MSU students study abroad.
On Monday, McPherson will announce a $15,000 donation to MSU’s College Academic Achievement Program to use for study abroad scholarships. Students in the program are low-income and often first generation college students.
“We affirmed our leadership in study abroad,” McPherson said. “Other schools come to us wanting to know how to do this.”
Jerry Ladman, associate provost for international affairs at The Ohio State University, said the conference was helpful at this time because they are trying to update their programs. About 13 percent of Ohio State students study abroad.
“The conference was able to give us some insight into things we might want to incorporate into our plan on how to expand the program,” he said.
Ladman said one such idea was requiring freshman-level classes on multicultural issues as a precursor to studying abroad. He described the conference as resoundingly successful.
Safety was another issue that dominated the conference.
“Since Sept. 11, it has been emphasized how important it is for us to understand different cultures,” said Cindy Chalou, assistant director of MSU’s Office of Study Abroad. “We intend to increase our emphasis on safety in this year’s presentation to participants. I think everyone will listen a little more closely this time.”
Chalou said MSU wants to remove all barriers to studying abroad. She said cost, finding a program that fits a student’s major and social pressure are barriers all institutions face.
“Your peers may think it is weird you study abroad, while others may have expectation that you will study abroad,” she said. “That is what we want to encourage.”
MSU Provost Lou Anna Simon said panels at the conference discussed issues ranging from increasing diversity of participants to financing programs.
“We want to make sure the study abroad program is not just an extra course to take but it fits into (a student’s) program,” she said.
Barbara Turlington, director of international education for the American Council on Education, said the conference was a success.
“(Participants) came away with some new ideas about what they will do with their own program - particularly with safety,” she said.
