<p>“Would one pick a college for its study abroad programs? Many of these programs are open to students from other colleges. Is there a significant advantage to being a student at a school that runs 30 or more study abroad programs?”</p>
<p>Since globalism has become a buzz word in the past ten years I would feel comfortable saying that ALL colleges have increased their focus on and opportunities for students to spend some time in another country, but the options and quality are as diverse as the colleges themselves. Since JYA is important to many kids most colleges have responded by setting up active and accessible information centers with the express purpose of answering questions of students and parents. They start early with information sessions group and individual to counsel kids on the best choices. </p>
<p>Most colleges have one or two programs that they administer. Smith has Paris and Florence. Trinity has Rome. Williams has Oxford. Hamilton has Antarctica! There are many, many others. The European programs are the oldest. Third world programs in Asia, Africa and South America are becoming more and more popular. </p>
<p>Some programs accept students from other colleges; some are inclusive for their own students. There are also organization like SIT and CIEE that administer programs worldwide that are open to all.</p>
<p>There are lots of different types of study abroad ranging from a whole year to a semester to a month. Some colleges now have what they call study away in which a professor from the college takes a group to a foreign country. Some kids choose their programs because they want to gain fluency in a foreign language; some choose England or Australia because they want to avoid language. There are even English programs in non-English speaking countries. There are also specialized programs like art, community service, ecology. Some are tied into foreign colleges, so you live in dorms; some offer homestays with local families. Believe me there is a whole lot of choice out there!</p>
<p>If you go to the Study Abroad webpage of any college that youre interested in you will most likely see a list of programs that the college approves. This usually (and again there are exceptions) that the classes that you take will be credited toward graduation and your financial aid will travel with you. If you are 100% positive that you want to study in a particular country or city then it makes sense that you would choose a college based on that program. If like most high school students, Junior year of college is light-years away, Id choose the colleges first then spend some time looking at their Study Abroad websites. They often have FAQ pages. Just for example, heres a link to Williams study away page. Again, just about every college has similar information on-line. <a href=“http://www.williams.edu/dean/sa.html[/url]”>http://www.williams.edu/dean/sa.html</a></p>