Study abroad increases nationwide

By Matt Holsapple
Summer Reporter

Nationwide, enrollment in study abroad programs, especially shorter summer programs, is increasing. This trend is also happening at Purdue.

According to Jean Tyner, summer programs coordinator for the Office of Study Abroad, enrollment in summer study abroad programs has increased dramatically over the past few years.

"Our numbers are going up," Tyner said. "More and more students are interested in doing a shorter program."

This summer, International Education of Students, a company that helps organize study abroad programs for over 500 colleges and universities, has saw a 32 percent increase in summer enrollment over last summer. Nationwide, study abroad participation in summer programs, as well as more traditional semester and full-year programs, has increased 14 percent this year over last year.

There are six summer study abroad programs that are offered exclusively by the Purdue Office of Study Abroad. In these programs, classes consist only of Purdue students and are often taught by Purdue faculty members.

Purdue began the first summer program in 1994, in Oxford, England. In the six years since it began, it has grown from a small group of a few students to almost 80 this year.

The London Internship program, a program that combines classes with work experience, began three years ago with ten students, and by this year it had grown to 33 students.

The Office of Study Abroad also offers summer programs in Cambridge, England; Florence, Italy; Madrid, Spain; and Galway, Ireland. Next year the Office will also add a program in Martinique.

We keep adding new programs while the enrollments in all of the current programs are increasing, Tyner said.

Linda Vallade, international academic programs specialist for International Programs in Agriculture, said that the summer agriculture study abroad programs have been experiencing the same sort of trend. "We noticed that particularly the summer programs tend to be the most popular."

While the summer programs are immensely popular, they have drawn criticism. Much of this criticism focuses on the short length of the programs and the idea that students cannot get a true feel or understanding from a culture in such a short amount of time. International Programs in Agricultural offers one program that lasts eight weeks, but most other summer programs offered through Purdue last only five or six weeks.

Tyner and Vallade both agreed that a longer stay will allow students to become much more immersed in the culture, but they also said that a shorter summer program abroad is better than no international experience at all.

"The longer you spend in another country the more you are able to immerse yourself in another country," Vallade said. She added, though, that even though the summer programs are shorter, they still give students an experience of living in another culture.

Tyner said, "The advantages are for students that feel they cannot, or do no want to, go for a full year. (For them,) The summer programs are absolutely wonderful."

There are advantages to the summer programs that have led to their popularity. One of these is, in fact, the length of the programs. Some students don't want to be away from campus for a semester or an entire year.

Also, the summer programs are much more structured. Tyner said that during longer programs, students are enrolled in a foreign university with foreign students and are essentially left on their own. Since summer programs are run exclusively through Purdue, there is a social structure already in place. Tyner said that the students can also participate in group flights, tours and organized activities that are absent from longer programs.

Vallade and Tyner both stressed the importance of the study abroad experience, regardless of the length of the program.

"It's (the importance of study abroad) very difficult to put into words. The flexibility and adaptiveness you gain, the global perspective, the worldview, all give you a different perspective on life and education," said Vallade. She said it also impresses employers by showing them that students are willing to take chances and try something new.

"You need to expand your frame of reference," Tyner said. "There is so much out there that you can't get out of a book."

Both offices have counselors that can help students to find the program that is right for them. These counselors can also help students work around conflicts that they think they may have, like cost or degree requirements.

Tyner said that these conflicts often exist only in the students' minds and with a little bit of planning almost any student can incorporate a study abroad program into their time at Purdue.

• For more information on study abroad, call the Office of Study Abroad at 494-2383 or International Programs in Agriculture at 494-6876.

Study abroad increases nationwide

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