Study abroad details and benefits

Study abroad programs offer more benefits than leisure travel with a lesser number of disadvantages for numerous reasons. Study abroad programs allow students to be able to continue to pursue academic goals while incurring little or no additional cost over the price of tuition that is already being paid to the university. Also, study abroad program offer many of the same benefits as traditional vacations or leisure travel. Study abroad is defined by Professor Andrew Diamond as a “term given to a program, usually run through a university, which allows a student to live in a foreign country and attend a foreign university.” Study abroad programs are offered at most colleges and universities as opportunities to fulfill educational requirements while living in and exploring in a foreign country in a structured way. Many benefits are gained through study abroad programs such as the ability for college students to travel to desirable destinations while receiving credit towards their university major or minor. For example, Bowling Green State University (BGSU) offers a study abroad program in Alcalá, Madrid, Spain in which students can take 14 courses including five courses which are required to obtain a major or minor in Spanish. All courses offered on this study abroad trip are worth three credit hours each. Students who choose to partake in this study abroad program will be able to take up to 18 credit hours while living and learning in Alcalá, Madrid, Spain for 15 weeks. This would be very beneficial to many college students who are looking to travel to foreign countries without taking a break from pursuing their educational goals. In addition to taking up to 18 credit hours, BGSU study abroad students will be able to participate in a minimum of 12 excursions throughout the semester that allow them to learn more about the culture and history of Madrid and surrounding cities. Not only will students broaden their experiences through excursions and by immersing themselves in the culture while studying abroad, but their creativity will also improve. Brent Crane, author of the article “For a More Creative Brain, Travel” discusses how in recent years, psychologists and neuroscientists have discovered “that spending time abroad may have the potential to affect mental change. In general, creativity is related to neuroplasticity, or how the brain is wired. Neural pathways are influenced by environment and habit, meaning they’re also sensitive to change: New sounds, smells, language, tastes, sensations, and sights spark different synapses in the brain and may have the potential to revitalize the mind.” When students are immersed into a new culture and learn about what it offers, new synapses are created in their brains, which develop into more overall creativity and understanding. This can lead to greater success in school and later in life. An additional benefit of traveling through a study abroad program is that it will most likely cost little or no more money than a student is already paying for school expenses. Through BGSU, a study abroad trip to Alcalá, Madrid, Spain would cost roughly $94 per person per day including room, board, meals, cultural excursions, and tuition. This is almost $200 less per person per day than a tradition leisure vacation would cost to the same area. Additionally, while studying abroad tuition and other fees will still be partially, if not fully, covered by federal loans, private loans, scholarships, and grants, which can significantly lower the total cost. The low cost of study abroad along with the many opportunities to lower it, contribute to one of the many benefits of study abroad programs.