More students decide to study abroad

By Monique Bhimani
Staff Reporter

Like many students studying Spanish, Rahwa Neguse, a junior sociology major, would like to study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country to improve her conversational skills. However, unlike most students, she said she wants to study in the Dominican Republic.

“I want to study there to learn more about the traditional dance, music and food and to take advantage of any way to be thoroughly immersed in the culture,” Neguse said.

Neguse is among the growing number of students taking advantage of TCU’s international education programs. According to the most recent rankings by the Institute of International Education, TCU is No. 8 in the nation among doctoral institutions for the percentage of students studying abroad, at 22.3 percent. Tracy Williams, education abroad coordinator, said TCU has achieved high rankings for the last five years because of support for study abroad from all levels of the university.

“I believe if the board, administration, faculty and staff didn’t see the value of it and didn’t have the commitment to (study abroad) that they have, it would not be possible for so many students to study abroad,” Williams said.

The most recent calculated statistics show an estimated 30 percent of students went on a study abroad program in the 2001-2002 school year, which includes the summer session, Williams said. She said she expects TCU to move up to third or fourth in the national rankings, because the number of students studying abroad rose from 354 in 2000-2001 to 475 in 2001-2002.

Williams said the variety of program destinations and the courses and credits offered may contribute to the high numbers of students studying abroad. The two most popular study abroad destinations are London and programs in Spain, she said.

“I think (London) is popular because there is no language barrier; (it) feels similar enough to the U.S. to be comfortable, but different enough to be exotic,” Williams said. “Second most popular is Spain, because we have a large number of Spanish majors and minors who are able to get the credit they need and the experience they want to increase their Spanish language skills.”

Sarah Ingham, a senior psychology major, said she loved the opportunity she got to live in another country and meet people she would not have met otherwise.

“I had a few friends who went abroad previously, and they said I should take advantage of (the opportunity),” said Ingham, who studied at the London Centre in the fall 2002. “I got the opportunity to travel outside Britain to Paris, Italy, Scotland, Ireland and Austria.”

In addition to ranking eighth in estimated percentage of participation for the 2000-2001 school year, TCU is ranked 20th by the total number of students studying abroad among doctoral institutions. Baylor University is ranked above TCU in both categories, while Southern Methodist University is 18th in total number of students and ranked five places below TCU in the percentage of students studying abroad.

“I am seeing more and more prospective students making decisions to come to TCU because of the study abroad programs,” Williams said. “It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few years to our numbers.”