2008-7-30
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.
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 testbig.com. I'm Steve Ember.