HUNTINGTON -- Marshall University's Study Abroad program wants students to go away. Well, not exactly. It's more like temporarily relocating.
Established in the mid 80s by Professor Clair Matz, the program allows students to earn academic credit while studying in other lands. Marshall's program is now affiliated with more than 130 universities in nearly 40 countries.
"Marshall has many different programs for students who want to study abroad," said Clark Egnor, the director of the Center of International Programs. "We feel that for an undergraduate student to get a complete education they need to have an international experience, whether they go abroad for a year, or a semester, or a summer."
Each year about 150 Marshall students take part in the Study Abroad program.
The summer programs tend to be the most popular. However, for some students the longer programs may be more economical. The exchange programs are designed to protect students against the imbalances of exchange rates.
"These are particularly good opportunities for students with promise scholarships who don't pay any tuition," Egnor said. "They just pay the standard Marshall rooming fee, travel expenses, and books. Cost wise Marshall Students really have an advantage when it comes to studying abroad. Marshall students don't realize how affordable it really is for them to study abroad."
The exchange programs offer students the opportunities to study in places ranging from England to the Galapagos Islands.
"The summer programs that we offer are often sponsored by different departments at Marshall," Egnor said. "The modern language department sponsors programs in Spain, France, and Germany where students can go and learn the languages in the summer. Criminal justice has a program in May where students can study in the U.K. Psychology has a program where students can visit Poland and Hungary."
Marshall's Center for International Programs begins promoting the Study Abroad program to incoming freshmen and students who are still in high school. Students interested in studying abroad are advised to apply for a passport right away and to talk to their advisors. The trips can take months of planning.
Pre-departure orientations are held for all students studying abroad, to help prepare them for some of the difficulties they may experience living and working in a foreign land.
"If you look at the numbers, when we first started it was originally just a couple of students studying abroad each year," Egnor said. "Then it gradually increased to 10, to 15. Then in the mid 90s there were maybe 40 or 50 going abroad. We're now up to around 150, so it's been a very steady gradual increase. But we're still nowhere near some of the larger universities. So we can still do better.
"A lot of graduate students still go up to us and say 'I didn't know this was an option.' That's why we held this fair and why we go to classes and try to get students who study abroad to talk about their experiences. We want students to know that finances, academics, and other things don't need to be a barrier. Those barriers can be taken down but not without a lot of planning and a lot of hard work on the student's part."
For more information on the Study Abroad program, visit the program's Web site at http://www.studymarshall.com/cip/studyabroad/index.asp or call the Center for International Programs at (304) 696-6265.
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