This is
the VOA Special English Education Report.
The
number of American students who study in other countries has been growing. The
Institute of International Education, in its most recent report, counted more
than two hundred twenty-three thousand, a record.
|
Katie Parker, right, advises Sophia Prantera, 18, on study abroad programs at Michigan State University in East Lansing |
A few
years ago a commission established by Congress called for a goal of one million
a year by two thousand seventeen.
The
institute says growth in study abroad programs is partly the result of more
choices of shorter lengths of study than a full school year.
More than half the American students who
go abroad study in Europe, though fewer than in the past. Students have shown
growing interest in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
Since
two thousand one, New York University has been sending more students abroad
than any other campus in the United States. It offers classes in Argentina,
China, Ghana and several countries in Europe.
More than nine hundred sixty
undergraduates from New York University will go abroad this fall. The largest
number -- four hundred -- will study in Florence, Italy. Mostly local
professors teach fifty courses there. Twenty-six students, the smallest number,
are going to Berlin, Germany, where just eight courses are offered.
Ayla
Schermer of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a nineteen-year-old business major
entering her second year at N.Y.U. She wants to study in another country for
the spring semester beginning in January. She has to decide which country in
September.
Ayla says her choice will depend on the
courses offered at each place and the cost. The classes will cost more than
eighteen thousand dollars, but that does not include transportation or housing.
Chris
Nicolussi is the student services director in the Office of Global Programs at
N.Y.U. He says housing costs differ from program to program. Some places offer
dormitory housing; in others, students live with local families or in
apartments.
The
strength of the euro against the dollar makes programs in Europe more costly
than those in Argentina, for example. But Chris Nicolussi says the university
has not seen any drop in the popularity of its European programs.
He did say, however, that more students
are interested in low cost activities organized by the university during their
time abroad. And before they go, he says, more want to learn how to better
budget their money.
And that's the VOA Special English
Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach.
Archives are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.