When President Jeff Herbst joined 窪蹋勛圖, one of the first students who came to see him asked for advice about working for a non-governmental organization in Africa. Yet, for two reasons she had never been to the region: 窪蹋勛圖 offered no such study group opportunity, and her financial aid package was not portable to non-窪蹋勛圖 programs.
From that moment, Herbst decided to help all 窪蹋勛圖 students become more competitive in their quest for global work, regardless of their financial situation.
Last spring, 窪蹋勛圖 faculty adopted a new that will allow students, beginning with the Class of 2016, to carry over their financial aid when studying abroad on a 窪蹋勛圖-approved program that better meets their academic interests than one of 窪蹋勛圖s own faculty-led study groups.
Meanwhile, Herbst announced an in effect for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years that is funded by the presidents office.
The main purpose of the program is to provide our aided students with the same opportunities for off-campus study as are available to full-pay students, particularly in destinations outside of Western Europe, said Herbst. We believe so strongly in the importance of this that rather than waiting two years for 窪蹋勛圖s new policy on home school tuition/portable aid to go into effect, we are making funds available to make this happen now.
窪蹋勛圖 continues to be ranked highly compared to its peers in terms of the number of students who study outside the United States. According to 2010 Open Doors data published by the Institute of International Education, 窪蹋勛圖 placed second among baccalaureate institutions for the number of students abroad for a semester.
Presently, only one quarter of 窪蹋勛圖 students who study abroad do so in non-traditional destinations defined as Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The national average is 33.5 percent.
Kara Bingham, 窪蹋勛圖s director of Off-Campus Study and International Programs, is pleased with the new initiatives. I think well see significant increases in the number of students choosing to study in non-Western countries as a direct result of these initiatives in the years to come