More Georgia students are studying abroad than ever before, thanks to concerted efforts by state institutions and a rising consciousness about the importance of international education, officials told GlobalAtlanta.

More than 6,000 students from Georgia’s 35 public colleges and universities participated in foreign-study programs in 2007-08.

That’s up 6.6 percent from 5,703 the previous year and 38 percent from 4,402 five years ago, according to statistics from the University System of Georgia’s Office of International Education.

With 2,086, the University of Georgia accounted for more than one-third of the state’s study-abroad enrollments, followed by the Georgia Institute of Technology at 1,001 and Georgia State University at 642.

Kennesaw State University, the third-largest public university by number of students, had 454, an increase of 142 percent over five years.

Some smaller institutions saw large increases in percentage growth as well, indicating that students and institutions across the board are seeing the value of a global outlook, said Richard Sutton, the university system’s assistant vice chancellor for international programs.

Chastity Boyd completed her final round of student teaching in Guanacaste province, Costa Rica.

“Studying abroad was one of the best experiences of my life,” said Ms. Boyd, an elementary and early childhood education major from Lithonia who just finished her last semester at Kennesaw State.

By teaching a diverse class of third- and fourth-graders, she gained an appreciation for other cultures and a reinforced belief in the necessity of learning a foreign language.

“The majority of my students spoke between two and four languages. I had students from Brazil, France, Vietnam, Mexico, Germany, Costa Rica, and the United States,” she said in an e-mail interview. “I was able to learn so much about the world from my students, and I learned to relate to those with different cultures than my own.”

Stories like Ms. Boyd's are multiplying throughout the United States.

Eight percent more U.S. students went abroad last year than in 2006-07, according to the annual “Open Doors” report released Nov. 17 by the New York-based Institute for International Education.

A lot of this has to do with students’ desire to be competitive in the global economy. 

China sent 20 percent more students to the U.S. for a total of 81,127, according to the Open Doors report.  India, still the largest sender, showed an increase of 13 percent to more than 94,000, and South Korea grew by 11 percent to nearly 70,000.

Together, these three Asian countries have about as many students here as the entire U.S. sent abroad last year.

High Priority

In response to these trends, Georgia has cemented international education in its strategic plan and is keeping its institutions accountable, Mr. Sutton said.

In the early 1990s less than one percent of students graduated with some study abroad experience, but that number now stands at 21 percent, Mr. Sutton said.

“As more students go abroad, they come back and tell other students and more students go abroad.  It’s a sustaining process that way,” he said.

That state’s goal is that one out of every four students graduating from the university system will have studied abroad for some length of time.

More international business activity in the state helps that cause, said Kasee Laster, UGA’s study abroad director.

UGA had the fifth most study abroad enrollments of any university in the country, public or private, in 2007-08. 

The state’s flagship institution has more than 170 programs and 200 faculty members who coordinate study-abroad programs as part of their job duties, Ms. Laster told GlobalAtlanta.

Because the state has so many international companies, students come to the university “knowing they are going to work in a global workplace,” she said.

The same is true for Gainesville State College, which became a four-year institution only a few years ago. 

“I was astonished when I came to Gainesville 15 years ago there were 40 international companies in Hall County alone,” said Chaudron Gille, the college’s international programs coordinator.

“We have Japanese companies, Belgian companies, French companies and German companies all around us.  If that’s happening in northeast Georgia, it’s got to be evident in other places too.”

Gainesville’s study-abroad enrollment increased about 75 percent in just one year, from 41 to 71. 

Ms. Gille gives some credit to the college’s promotion efforts and its establishment of an Institute for Global Initiatives a few years ago.

But the biggest reason for the jump was a popular new program where education students spent 10 days working in a school for learning-disabled children in Belize, she said.

The class fulfilled a diversity requirement for the students, “but we chose to focus on a Latin American country with a high poverty rate thinking that our students’ exposure there would give them a better understanding of some of the students they would encounter here,” Ms. Gille said.

Innovative programs that provide relevant skills are in no short supply around the state, even at schools that are just girding themselves for international engagement.

Clayton State University is working on an exchange in China’s Hunan province, an MBA program in India, Spanish study in Costa Rica and a “Maymester” program examining the health culture of Mediterranean nations, said John Parkerson, the school’s newly appointed director of international programs.

Clayton’s study abroad enrollments more than quadrupled from 11 to 48 over the past five years, highlighting a “gradual realization that this is something that schools in Georgia need to be placing more emphasis on,” he said.

Mr. Parkerson, Hungary’s honorary consul in Georgia and former corporate counsel for Delta Air Lines Inc., compared schools’ interest in international study to airlines’ quests to diversify their route schemes.

“You see Delta seeing international growth as key to its future business viability, and I think universities … see international growth as very essential to their future viability,” he said.

Funding Concerns

But with the economic recession expected to persist throughout 2008-09, it’ll be harder for students and their families to pony up the cash for expensive programs.

“I think the current economic climate is somewhat difficult for study abroad,” said Ms. Laster, the UGA study abroad coordinator. “I don’t expect our numbers to grow next year quite as fast as they did this year.”

Clayton is reacting by comparison shopping for airline fares and accommodation prices to keep expenses as low as possible, Mr. Parkerson said.

The state does have some funding mechanisms, although how much they’ll be able to maintain is uncertain as the state trims its budget, said Mr. Sutton of the Office of International Education.

In 2003, the Board of Regents launched the STARS program – Students Abroad with Regents’ Support.

It provides some matching funds for institutions, which use the money to employ students who can use the cash they earn toward the expenses of an international program.

Mr. Sutton said the state usually gives out 500-600 awards per year and would ideally grant close to a thousand if budget allowed. 

The University of Georgia usually ends up getting $15,000-$18,000 through the program, which it chooses to parse out in $500 chunks - $10 per hour for 50 hours of work, said Ms. Laster.

Many of the students work in Ms. Laster’s office, although some work for their teachers to help coordinate the very programs they’ll participate in.

The HOPE scholarship – where Georgia pays tuition for students who maintain a B average - also provides a much-needed financial boost.  It covers varying amounts of tuition for study-abroad programs if students remain enrolled in their home institutions. 

And there’s another effect: Students who’ve gotten free tuition through HOPE will be better suited to pay for living expenses abroad, Ms. Laster said.

General Trends

While U.S. study abroad numbers have increased by 8 percent to more than 241,000, more than twice that many come into the U.S. for study. Here are some general trends related to student exchange and where Georgia stands:

-The number of foreign students coming to the U.S. grew by 7 percent in 2007-08 to 623,805. 

-Asian countries are the biggest senders.  India is still the largest with 94,563, a 10 percent increase year over year.  China is second largest with 81,127 and is the fastest growing, posting a 20 percent increase.  South Korea is in third place and the second fastest growing with an 11 percent increase to 69,124.  No. 4 Japan decreased by 4 percent.  No. 5 Canada increased by 3 percent.

-Counting private institutions, Georgia sent 7,580 students abroad in 2006-07.  Emory University sent less students abroad in 2007-08 than in 2003-04, 687 to 609 respectively.

-The United Kingdom is still the most popular study-abroad destination for U.S. students, up 2 percent to 32,705, followed by Spain and Italy.  Europe hosts about 57 percent of U.S. students, compared to Latin America's 15 percent, Asia's 10 percent and the Middle East's 7 percent.

-California is the leading host state for foreign students.  With 13,216, Georgia ranks 15th on the list of 50 states plus Washington D.C.

-Foreign students spent $331.4 million last year in Georgia (the sum of tuition and fees, living and miscellaneous expenses less U.S. funding). 

-Out of all Georgia universities, Georgia Tech hosted the most foreign students with 3,616, almost three times the amount hosted by Emory, Tech's nearest competitor.

-Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue declared Nov. 17-21 "International Education Week" in the state to recognize "the many important contributions of international education to our nation."

Sources: Institute of International Education’s “Open Doors 2008” report, Emory University’s Center for International Programs Abroad.  University System of Georgia's Office of International Education, NAFSA: Association of International Educators

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