Study Abroad Opportunities
By Nicholas Bainbridge// News Editor
As a result of the recent weather, the study abroad fair has been rescheduled to take place on Sept. 28 in Slane gymnasium.
It is a presentation of the different Maymester courses students may attend in different countries, allowing High Point University students to learn more about their field in a vastly different cultural environment.
There has been a vast amount of different locales, fields and universities that HPU has offered as exchange programs throughout the years, from a biochemistry Maymester in Wales to a political science oriented semester in Morocco.
At the fair, students will learn about the vast array of different study abroad opportunities open to them and acquire skills, knowledge and connections that may prove useful later in life.
In research done by colleges on students who partake in a study abroad program, the results showed significantly higher correlation with early employment.
“Ninety-nine percent of study abroad students found employment within 12 months of graduation, whereas only 49 percent of college graduates found employment in the same period,” explained a report by the University of California Merced.
Studying abroad was also correlated with a one-forth higher earnings and substantially higher grade performance; however, when examining this data in order to consider the pros and cons of studying abroad, students may need to note that the data may be skewed by the fact that there are prerequisites in order to enter a study abroad program.
In order for a student to participate in a study abroad program, they will have to be accepted by the host university. Second, and even more important, they have to be free of issues financially and otherwise so they can study in another country.
These and other factors may cause study abroad students to represent those who are already ahead of the curb, and thus make it difficult to measure exactly how impactful the semester abroad was. More research would need to be done to understand the full extent of the impact.
While the academic and career benefits of study abroad are somewhat transparent, research supports that participating in such a program is a life-changing experience, as students are immersed a different way of life and meet people who live quite differently from them.
HPU students during on their time abroad. Photo submitted