ISU Plans for American Students Studying Abroad

Free Study Abroad Guide

Studying abroad is important because our students need to be able to interact with a global work force. ISU has signed onto the Institute of International Education's Generation Study Abroad initiative that calls for doubling the number of American students studying abroad by the end of the decade.

Depending on the program, a semester abroad generally costs from $7,500 to $21,000, including airfare, passport, tuition and other costs, according to the Office of International Studies and Programs. That compares to about $13,200 a semester for the average in-state student, including, tuition, fees, room and board, books and personal expenses, the office reports.

“International experience and intercultural skills are all very important for today's graduate,” The world has changed. We're not an isolated country. We need to relate to others to be globally competitive.” But studying abroad is not just a matter of boosting intellectual skills and being competitive in the job market — it's also about personal growth, said those involved.

Rita Hess of Elk Grove Village, who graduated from ISU in May with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and Italian, said the five months she spent in Grenada, Spain. It made me more compassionate toward others. It opened my eyes to a lot of things I never knew before.  Also, after her international experience, Hess said, “I'm a lot less reserved. I'm a lot less scared to try new things.”

The impact of studying abroad became personal to Bailey after her oldest child, Ky, studied in Morocco. “He came back with such a different perspective,” she said. “It hit home how life-changing it is.” There can be extended stays, such as the the five months Hess was in Spain. She took 18 credit hours of courses taught in Spanish and lived with a local family that included a teenage girl. Other students stay for a semester, taking courses taught in English or the local language. Some take shorter trips of 10 days to a month led by ISU faculty members who might tie the trip to a course.

Bailey described a course offered through the honors program that studied one city, Florence, Italy, in depth, covering areas such as history, culture, geography and economics. Then, 17 students and two instructors spent about 10 days in Florence.

Lorenzo de Medici, an international institute with several campuses in Italy, offers a wide range of courses taught in English that contribute to Italy being among the most popular countries for foreign study. The next most popular locations for ISU students are England and Spain. Among the keys to increasing the number of students studying abroad are getting to them early before they are locked into a sequence of courses in their majors, and having faculty members talk to students about the value of international experience.

A potential area for growth is among male students. About 74% of ISU students who study abroad are females.



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