<p><a href=“If%20they%20carefully%20screen%20the%20pre-approved%20programs–and%20many%20selective%20schools%20do–that’s%20good,%20too,%20but%20it’s%20also%20not%20much%20of%20a%20reason%20to%20choose%20one%20college%20over%20another,%20since%20many%20schools%20will%20allow%20students%20to%20study%20on%20those%20same%20programs.”>quote</a>
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<p>Yep. It is often the case that a group of similar schools under consideration will all have good study abroad programs. The more likely scenario is that a college will be cut from this list because of a limited study abroad program.</p>
<p>For example, Dartmouth runs its own programs. They are fine programs, but very limited – mostly Western Europe, etc. You can petition to do other programs, but there is no list of pre-approved programs…and the quarter system makes some of these programs difficult, especially for a spring semester. </p>
<p>So, if you are thinking about study abroad in Asia, India, Africa, etc., Dartmouth might not be the place. Other schools simply have miniscule numbers of students studying abroad. Harvard has always had very low rates; although they are trying to reverse that.</p>
<p>A lot depends on the cost of the college. A state university has to offer study abroad programs with price tags similar to the cost of a state U. Many of the best study abroad programs cost like a high-dollar private college: $20,000+ per semester.</p>
<p>It’s hard to give one size fits all advice.</p>