Enrollment in the summer study abroad program at the Georgia Institute of Technology's campus in Metz, France, has jumped by 58 percent, in part because of the sluggish U.S. economy and fewer summer internships, university officials said.

Last summer, 127 Tech students studied at Georgia Tech-Lorraine. This summer, 250 students applied and 200 were accepted.

More Tech students chose to spend the summer in France because there were fewer opportunities available in the  states, said Yves Bethelot, president of Georgia Tech-Lorraine. "We've noticed a significant decline in domestic internship opportunities," he said.

The summer program in France also has a cost advantage for Tech students who are not from Georgia. They pay in-state tuition plus $2,000 for a summer semester in France, a $6,000 savings over a semester on the Atlanta campus. Nearly half the students accepted for the summer semester in France are out-of-state students.

Georgia Tech Lorraine, which is an 80-minute train ride from Paris, offers classes in engineering, computer science, French, social science and management. Many faculty members from the Atlanta campus teach there for a semester.

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