Students study abroad
Students in all majors and with any budget have the option at Utah State University to study abroad at universities across the globe, with programs offered through the Office of Global Engagement.
“We really encourage anyone, even if it’s just been in the back of your mind, to come make an appointment and look at our website online,” said Robin Shutinya, study abroad assistant.
There are programs for students are single or married, whether they want to study abroad for two weeks or for a year.
“Our office can be really flexible in finding a program that works for a student,” Shutinya said. “I think it’s great for people to come in … just come in and find out because I think we really can modify a lot of things because we want the students to make sure they get what they need.”
There are four different ways to study abroad — through exchanges with students from USU’s partner institutions, through the ISEP program, through faculty-led summer programs or through affiliated third-party providers, said Katie Davidson, a study abroad advisor.
With the first two options the cost of the programs are based on USU tuition and fees, while the latter two depend on those running the program.
“I also tell people when thinking about cost to look at what all is included because sometimes there may be extra excursions that somebody wants to go on anyway and it’s already planned for them, or they don’t want it already planned for them,” Davidson said. “There are a lot of things to look at and consider.”
Most scholarships and financial aid can be applied to the study abroad and exchange programs, a benefit that Katie Kasparian, who graduated in 2013 from USU with a degree in English, took advantage of during her study abroad experience.
“With the cost of the program plus housing over there, it equaled about what I would have paid at USU,” Kasparian said. “Plus I could use financial aid and scholarships to help pay. In my case I mainly ended up paying for the plane ticket and living expenses while there.”
Cost and course options are some of the biggest factors students worry about when deciding whether to do study abroad.
“When I was thinking of study abroad, I thought you paid like $20,000 a semester or something,” said Savvy Jensen, a study abroad peer adviser. “I didn’t realize you were paying the same that you would have paid here, and it was actually really affordable.”
Many students will come in and say they don’t think they can study abroad because of the major they have and the limited options they believe it creates, Jensen said.
“Sometimes, because people have a little bit more obscure major they think there’s not a lot of options for them,” Jensen said. “Come talk to us. There could be options for that major that you don’t know about, or also there could be options for a lot of generals.”
With hundreds of universities to choose from, Jensen said the options for accommodations, school courses and extra travel are endless — there is a place for everyone.
“My recommendation to people is always: don’t be afraid of the weird countries,” Jensen said.
For Alisha Day, seeing an advertisement on campus for the study abroad program was what kick-started something she had always wanted to do.
Day, who graduated from USU in May 2014 with a degree in family and consumer sciences education, studied historic clothing for four weeks in England, Prague and Italy. Day traveled and studied with a group of students and two professors in May of 2013, taking classes in the morning, wherever the group was staying at the time.
“There was a plan for each day made by our professors but also a lot of freedom to explore things each individual was interested in,” Day wrote in an email to the Statesman. “I gained a lot of independence and confidence from it.”
Both Kasparian and Day advise students who choose to study abroad to plan some of their own travel and to study the country they plan to live in.
There is also the option of learning or developing another language while studying abroad.
“I know there are a lot of students who speak another language here and so if they’re wanting to further that, that can be an option as well,” Davidson said. “Or for someone who is really interested in learning a second language but doesn’t have any background in it, there are intensive language programs too.”
For students who are nervous about a foreign language where they go, courses at many institutions are in English, even if the people of the country speak another language, Shutinya said.
— mandy.m.morgan@aggiemail.usu.edu