IN LAST week's column I advocated making study abroad a requirement for all undergraduates. I wrote that the University should set the goal that by 2010, 100 percent of incoming students go on at least one study abroad experience during their four years on Grounds. For too long, study abroad has been a foreign concept here, and it is imperative that mandatory study abroad be instituted. However, it is unfair to issue sweeping requirements without providing the means to achieve them. As part of the proposal that universal study abroad be instituted at the University, Financial resources must be secured to make this a realistic goal.
As with any worthwhile endeavor, study abroad is costly. Summer, credit-awarding trips lasting less than a month can cost nearly $5,000. Semester and year-long trips often cost more than comparable periods of time spend on Grounds. Even January Term courses are expensive. Of the eight trips offered by the University for January 2008, seven have total costs over $4,000. It is very difficult for many, if not most, students to take on such financial burdens. Yet current conditions and programs do exist to help defer travel and study expenses.
Recently, normal study abroad costs have been exacerbated by unfavorable exchange rates, particularly to popular destinations in Europe. But affordable, less traditional locations are available. As Marina Markot, associate director of Study Abroad, notes, "Students can search beyond Europe to find places that are affordable."
Students who receive AccessUVa funding are usually able to apply their financial aid to academic-related foreign travel. Additionally, the International Studies Office offers several scholarships that include financial need as one of their selection criteria. Markot notes that "there are also many national scholarships that are either need-based or targeted for students with particular areas of interest."
For in-state students not receiving financial aid, exchange programs are a very affordable way to spend significant time abroad. These arrangements allow a student to continue paying University tuition while studying at a foreign university. Such programs have an average of 100 to 130 participants each year, according to the ISO. These paltry numbers are unacceptable, and under mandatory study abroad would have to be greatly increased.
While these funding sources and solutions are a start, they are not sufficient to accommodate all students. Study abroad partnerships should be established between the University and corporations, non-profits and non-governmental organizations. Under this plan, sponsors would support trips based on location, course of study or requisite language skills.
Organizations would be able to customize their sponsorships to particular programs and initiatives of interest to them. For example, the World Bank could target future analysts by sponsoring economics majors studying development in Liberia. Companies intent on expanding in rapidly growing foreign markets, such as China and India, could use study abroad sponsorships to establish a working relationship with students studying relevant languages.
Sponsorships are particularly effective because they naturally integrate into the internship and recruitment processes that already occur on Grounds. Study abroad typically occurs during a student's second or third year. Similarly, students pursue internships prior to their fourth year. Under a system of study abroad sponsorship, the interests of students and organizations would be directly aligned.
Such a program would require a great deal of development work by the University. In the face of an ambitious $3 billion capital campaign, this may seem unrealistic. Still, it's possible. While the University relies on private benefactors, particularly alumni, to reach fund-raising goals, this proposal calls on largely untapped resources -- businesses, non-profits and NGOs. Under this framework, individual donors would also be encouraged to sponsor trips. Yet, the campaign would not rely on their benevolence to reach its goals.
As it currently stands, study abroad is an under-utilized resource at the University. Making it a graduation requirement will greatly increase the University's national profile, enhance the educational experiences of students, and attract more premier graduate and job recruiters to Grounds. In order to actually make the benefits of universal study abroad available to all students, we must reduce the costs associated with such a valuable program. An initiative is only as effective as the money backing it, and in this case, much work must be done to secure the resources needed to make universal study abroad a reality.
James Rogers's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at jrogers@cavalierdaily.com.
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