Viva La Study Abroad - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Careers and Colleges, March, 2001

Do you dream of spending part of your college years studying architecture in Barcelona or medieval literature in Paris? The Institute of International Education (IIE) recently published its "Open Doors" report, which notes that although a record number of students (129,770) received college credit for study abroad in 1998-99, the overwhelming majority of American college students never study outside the U.S.

Allan E. Goodman, president of IIE, says U.S. students are realizing that they need an international perspective to be competitive in the global economy. "But the number of students studying abroad each year is still just a tiny fraction of the overall student population," he says.

The report also notes that students are staying abroad for less time. Lindsay Hey, a senior at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, spent a full semester in Strasbourg, France, and says she's glad she didn't opt for a shorter stay. "I only scratched the surface of what I wanted to do," she says. "It would've been impossible to get the same experience in three weeks."

In an effort to make study abroad more accessible, IIE developed a Web site (www.iiepassport.org), which catalogs 5,000 study abroad opportunities and helps students identify programs that meet their needs.

The most popular destinations for American students who earned college
credit for studying abroad in 1998-99
United Kingdom  (27,720)
Spain           (12,292)
Italy           (11,281)
France          (10,479)
Mexico           (7,363)
Australia        (5,368)
Germany          (4,534)
Costa Rica       (3,449)
Israel           (3,302)
Ireland          (3,073)
Japan            (2,485)
China            (2,278)
Source: Open Doors 2000
Note: Table made from bar graph

These 10 large universities send the most students abroad:

1. Brigham Young University (Provo, UT)

2. Michigan State University (East Lansing)

3. University of Texas at Austin

4. University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

5. New York University (New York, NY)

6. University of Wisconsin-Madison

7. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

8. University of Arizona (Tucson)

9. University of Colorado at Boulder

10. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

These 10 small colleges send 80 percent or more of their students abroad:

1. DePauw University (Greencastle, IN)

2. St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN)

3. Goshen College (Goshen, IN)

4. Lee University (Cleveland, TN)

5. Kalamazoo College (MI)

6. Austin College (Sherman, TX)

7. Colorado College (Colorado Springs)

8. Wofford College (Spartanburg, SC)

9. Trinity College (Hartford, CT)

10. Eckerd College (St. Petersburg, FL)