Throughout the last 20 years, MSU has seen an increasing interest in researching and learning in Africa, and MSU's Office of Study Abroad reported a significant rise in students who want to study in Africa.

Cindy Chalou, the assistant director of the study abroad program, said since she has been involved with the program, students, staff and faculty have participated even more.

"Quite honestly, I don't know why the interest has grown so much," said Chalou.

"Right now, Ghana is receiving the most attention and already has a waiting list put out for it, which is usually held by the ones in England."

The program in Ghana offers students the opportunity to travel and study health care and mass media.

Jeanne Gazel, a consultant in the student affairs and services branch, said she participates in a study abroad in South Africa focused on race relations and said this year's interest in the class is a big surprise.

"There are way more applicants than I have seats," Gazel said.

"The deadline is in March, and I am already overflowed with applicants."

According to documents developed by the Global Engagement and Strategic Projects, there are now 173 faculty members working in 67 departments in 32 African countries.

This does not include the students participating in study abroad programs.

Terrie Taylor, an MSU professor of internal medicine, is one of the faculty who helped to create MSU's interest in Africa.

Taylor said she has studied malaria in Malawi since 1986 and said the program has developed other research programs that have attracted more students to study with her.

"When I first started this program, it was just me and my colleague," Taylor said.

"Now, we have seen one of my colleagues, Gretchen Birbeck, see longer research time in Africa, and I also have MSU students studying at the hospital I do my research at."

Taylor said because of MSU's early commitment to learning from Africa, she was given the proper amount of time to research.

Without this alloted time, Taylor said she would not have been able to conduct her research as thoroughly.

"You really can't run a project like this unless you're physically present for the entire time — not just a couple weeks," Taylor said.

"MSU allowed me to stay those extra six months to properly research the disease."

She added that compared to other universities, no one else could have supported her like MSU.

"There is no one in the U.S. who has a deal like this," Taylor said.

"Most people have gotten a couple of days to research and don't get the chance to get as in-depth as we do."

John Hudzik, vice president for global engagements and strategic planning, said MSU's interest in Africa will remain high as long as the staff and students continue to enthusiastically participate in the programs.

"The university's commitment to programing and research in Africa is long-standing," Hudzik said.

"As long as those partnerships exist, faculty and students are going to continue to show interest in being part of this commitment."

Students continue to apply for study abroad trips to Africa, he said.