Higher Education Directory Praises Study Abroad Bill Introduced in U.S. House
Goal to Increase Participation to 1 Million Students Studying Abroad Per Year
CHESTER, PA, March 13, 2007 - The president of the country's leading online directory of study abroad information today praised the introduction of legislation to establish a national study abroad fellowship program. The bill, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as part of The Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007 by Reps. Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee respectively, would create a national fellowship program, increasing the numbers of students studying abroad to 1 million per year. The program would be administered by an independent entity and would provide key support for necessary modifications at institutions of higher education to allow all college students the opportunity to study abroad.
"As more international students study in other countries, the gap between cultures shrinks ever so slightly, bringing increased foreign relations," says Mark Shay, president of StudyAbroad.com. "The United States is one of the most important players on the world stage, and we can't afford not to keep up with our peers."
StudyAbroad.com has spent the last 11 years helping students find the ideal study abroad program for them. The site receives almost a million hits a month from potential study abroad students, but finds that most students search for information but never actually go abroad.
"This bill can help change that in the right direction," Shay says.
The legislation is named after the late Senator Paul Simon (D-IL) who was a strong proponent of international education. His efforts led to the creation of the bipartisan Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program. Many of the recommendations contained in the Commission's 2005 report Global Competence and National Needs: One Million Students Studying Abroad, are included in this legislation. Currently, about 200,000 undergraduate students study abroad each year. The bill's objectives include ensuring that the demographics of the study abroad participation will reflect the U.S. undergraduate population and that an increasing portion of study abroad students will go to currently nontraditional study abroad destinations.
"Having 1 million students studying abroad per year will transform our country in a positive and powerful way," said Peter McPherson, President of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) and former chair of the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program. "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."
Last year a similar bill in the Senate received overwhelming bipartisan support and had 46 co-sponsors before the session ended. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Norm Coleman (R-MN) will re-introduce a Senate bill in the near future.
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StudyAbroad.com is the Internet’s leading source of information on educational opportunities for students to study in other countries. It is a comprehensive directory of study abroad and intensive language programs organized by subject and destination. StudyAbroad.com also offers Destination Portal Pages, a handbook serving as a guide to traveling abroad, and financial aid information. StudyAbroad.com is a service of Educational Directories Unlimited (EDU), a leading Internet company serving higher education. Based in suburban Philadelphia, EDU's steady growth since its inception in 1989 has led to its inclusion in the Philadelphia 100, Inc. Magazine/ICIC Inner City 100 and Inc. 500 lists of fast growing businesses.
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 215 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, or to download the report Global Competence and National Needs: One Million Students Studying Abroad, please visit www.lincolncommission.org.