For a Growing Number of Freshmen, Packing for College Requires a Passport

Autor/in	Wilhelm, Ian
Titel	For a Growing Number of Freshmen, Packing for College Requires a Passport
Quelle	In: Chronicle of Higher Education, (2012) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0009-5982
Schlagwörter	Drinking; Foreign Countries; College Freshmen; Study Abroad; Global Approach; Enrollment; Student Recruitment; High Achievement; Self Efficacy; Alumni; Behavior Problems; Student School Relationship; College Preparation; Cultural Awareness + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Trinken; Ausland; Studienanfänger; Studies abroad; Auslandsstudium; Globales Denken; Einschulung; Self-efficacy; Selbstwirksamkeit; Schüler-Lehrer-Beziehung; Cultural identity; Kulturelle Identität
Abstract	Dozens of universities have started encouraging students to go abroad early in their college life in the last decade, offering overseas opportunities that last a week to a full academic year, in countries as diverse as Britain, China, and Mexico. A variety of factors are driving the growth. Universities say the programs help globalize the curriculum and student body, accommodate enrollment of more freshmen without straining home-campus facilities, and recruit top students. While students who are already highly motivated are most likely to apply, administrators say international experience generally increases the confidence of any student, both academically and socially, and that alumni of the trips often become student leaders on campus. But sending first-year students to foreign countries has its challenges. For most of them, it's the first time away from their parents. Add the combination of foreign cultures, homesickness, and being of legal drinking age in some other countries, and the potential for behavioral problems is high. Another major concern is making sure freshmen still feel a part of the wider university community while overseas and have a smooth reentry back on the home campus. Opportunities for first-year students to go abroad are not new. In 1994 Arcadia University, in Glenside, Pa., began offering a trip to London over spring break specifically for freshmen. Since then the program has expanded to 15 countries. The options include a trip to Shanghai to study China's rise as an economic power and one to Havana focused on relations between Cuba and the United States. The university also started offering a semester-abroad opportunity for freshmen in 2003. At the time, the university faced an overenrollment problem and decided to use its London facility as a release valve, offering students a $1,500 tuition discount and free airfare as an incentive to go abroad. While it was meant as a temporary solution to a problem, the effort was considered a success and the university decided to keep the overseas program as an option. The program is now offered in both the fall and the spring, and a second site, in Stirling, Scotland, was added. Unlike Arcadia, Michigan State University offers only a short-term program, which it started nine years ago. Michigan State's program abroad has a different goal than most other such programs for freshmen, which tend to focus on exposing students to new cultures and countries. While that's part of the university's objectives, its primary focus is to give incoming freshmen a preview of college-level coursework. The trips include a mix of class time and visits to places relevant to the courses. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Chronicle of Higher Education. 1255 23rd Street NW Suite 700, Washington, DC 20037. Tel: 800-728-2803; Tel: 202-466-1000; Fax: 202-452-1033; e-mail: circulation@chronicle.com; Web site: http://chronicle.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10