In an age of global trade and business, global interdependence, and global terror, Americans’ lack of global literacy is a national liability. One way to reverse that trend is through meaningful study abroad opportunities. Study abroad has been shown to provide students with critical foreign language and cross-cultural skills that build them into responsible global citizens.

Charting a new course
But in any given year, only about 1 percent of all students enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education study abroad, reports NAFSA: Association of International Educators, a professional organization promoting the exchange of students and scholars to and from the United States.

Congress and universities are seeking to change that statistic. Toward that end, the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act, named for the late Illinois Democrat who was a champion of study abroad, was reintroduced in Congress in February 2009.

The legislation would create an independent government entity and would authorize $80 million in grants to students, colleges, and nongovernmental institutions that provide study-abroad opportunities. It would require

a commitment from schools to make study abroad more accessible, and it would establish study abroad as the norm, not the exception, for undergraduate students.


Changing perceptions at home and abroad


The Study Abroad Foundation Act features three major objectives: to send one million students abroad each year, to increase the diversity of participants who study abroad, and to increase study abroad in nontraditional locations.

First, the legislation seeks to increase study abroad participation to one million students within a decade – a nearly fivefold increase. One million students represent approximately half of U.S. college students graduating annually.

Second, the Study Abroad Foundation Act is committed to ensuring that the diversity of our nation is represented by those who study abroad. In order to improve America’s image abroad and to equalize opportunities for American students to succeed, the demographics of study-abroad participation must reflect the demographics of the American undergraduate population.

The third objective involves increasing study abroad in nontraditional destinations, i.e., developing nations. According to NAFSA, 95 percent of the world’s population growth over the next 50 years will occur outside of Europe, but in 2004-2005, 60 percent of U.S. students studying abroad studied in Europe, and 45 percent studied in just four countries – the U.K., Italy, Spain, and France. We need to expand our vision.

Do you believe in the importance of raising up global citizens by increasing access to meaningful study abroad opportunities? If so, contact your Senators and urge them to pass the Study Abroad Foundation Act this year.

Sound Off! Post Your Comments