Taman Siswa

Goal to Increase Participation to 1 Million Students Studying Abroad Per Year

America’s public universities applaud yesterday’s introduction of legislation to establish a national study abroad fellowship program. The Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Act of 2006 (S. 3744) would create a national fellowship program, increasing the numbers of students studying abroad to 1 million per year (about 191,000 undergraduate students studied abroad in the 2003-2004 school year).

“Strong study abroad programs are important to our economic competitiveness, our future diplomacy and security, and clearly the education of our students,” said Peter McPherson, chair of the Abraham Lincoln Commission on Study Abroad and president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), a public university association. “For the American workforce to be competitive in the global marketplace, our students need experience in and knowledge about the world outside the U.S.”

The Act, introduced today by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), authorizes the Secretary of State to set up a competitive grants system for both institutions and individuals for sums of money as required. The program would dramatically increase student participation in study abroad.

“This Act would also work to make the demographics of those studying abroad be similar to the undergraduate population; to increase the number of students studying in non-traditional countries; and to increase the number of study abroad programs at community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and institutions with large populations of low-income students,” McPherson said.

The legislation comes out of the groundbreaking report Global Competence and National Needs: One Million Students Studying Abroad, published last year by the Abraham Lincoln Commission on Study Abroad Fellowship Program. That Commission was appointed by Congressional leadership and the President.

“One of the essential components for developing global competence is a high quality study abroad experience,” said William B. DeLauder, President Emeritus, Delaware State University and Executive Director, the Abraham Lincoln Commission on Study Abroad Fellowship Program.

“This program over the next generation can change America,” McPherson said.

Founded in 1887, the National Association of State Universities and Land- Grant Colleges is a voluntary association of public research universities, land-grant institutions, and many state university systems. Its 214 members enroll more than 3.6 million students, award about a half-million degrees annually, and have an estimated 20 million alumni.

For more information on the Abraham Lincoln Commission on Study Abroad Fellowship Program, or to download the report Global Competence and National Needs: One Million Students Studying Abroad, please visit http://www.lincolncommission.org.

Source: National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges