The 25 Best Study Abroad Programs - Becca Blond

A large number of students at the University of San Diego choose to study abroad during their undergraduate education and as such the school offers 135 programs in 44 different countries, offering something for nearly every kind of student, including options for individual research and internships that look great on
post-graduation resumes.

The Madrid Center is USD’s first permanent, international campus. Opened in Nov. 2014, it is located in the heart of Madrid, just steps from the famous Prado Museum, and is the new anchor at the center of the university’s study abroad program. Students that choose to study abroad here for a semester will find the courses offered are similar to those at the San Diego campus and are taught by USD faculty and staff living on-site.

Students at Boston University can choose to study abroad in more than 30 cities in programs located on six continents. While the majority of BU’s programs are open to qualified students from other universities if space allows, there are 14 programs open only to students enrolled in BU. These include options to live, study and travel in Paris, London, Sydney and Quito among other locales. The BU programs are multi-focused with an expansive course choice in a variety of subjects.

Programs include opportunities to be totally immersed in the local language and culture through home-stays or courses in the native tongue as well as options to study science, business, engineering and fine arts among other disciplines.

More than 50% of Sarah Lawrence College students study abroad and the school boasts the longest running Cuba study program in the U.S. The college prides its global study abroad programs run by its faculty for allowing students to receive the same small seminar-style classes and individual work with faculty that they’d get at SLC, while at the same time experiencing a new culture.

Besides the Cuba program, the small liberal arts college offers
programs in the UK, including London, Paris, Peru, Japan and China.

For many programs, students need to have elementary proficiency in the host country’s language. For instance, the Beijing program requires one year of Chinese at the college level while for the Lima program, students need a high level of Spanish fluency to participate in classes that are not taught in English. The college also offers some less intense summer study abroad options.

One of a handful of state schools to make our list, West Virginia University has a diverse study abroad program that has been in operation for nearly a 100-years now. They offer a large number of faculty-led programs to all corners of the globe – from Trinidad & Tobago to Turkey, Romania to Vietnam, Greece to Poland — as well as a strong financial aid program to give any student who wants to spend a semester abroad the chance to do so.

“In today’s interconnected and global world, having an international experience can help set you apart and give you valuable skills that will help you in the future. WVU is committed to providing unique,educational, and rewarding international opportunities to its students” the university website’s study abroad page states.

Studying in another country and culture is the best way to gain
knowledge of that place. Nothing besides the experience itself will teach the nuances of cultural norms, expectations, and perspectives.

Beyond its faculty-led programs, the university also offers exchange programs and programs for credit through affiliated schools.

More than half of Connecticut College students study abroad during their time at the liberal arts college. Students can select from either carefully selected affiliated study abroad programs or through their own Study Away/Teach Away programs (SATA).

The SATA programs are offered in South Africa, Vietnam, Italy, Cuba and Peru offer a group of ten to twenty students the unique
opportunity to join Connecticut College professors in a joint
educational enterprise that is designed to enhance their knowledge and appreciation of political, economic and social systems
significantly different from their own.

During the SATA semester, students carry a regular course load, taking classes offered by the Connecticut College professors as well as faculty at the host institution.

The academic focus varies, depending on the location and the
academic interests of the professors leading the program that
semester. Most of the SATA programs also include field trips
dedicated to helping students develop a greater appreciation for the region in which they are studying.

Students also have the choice of staying with host families or in the dorms of the host university (note you won’t be taking general classes, just using the university grounds for studies with your group).

At Guilford College, a very lucky 14 students are chosen to study each semester inside a medieval 12th-century castle in the Italian Alps in what is known as the Brunnenburg Semester. The castle is on a hill above the town of Merano, which is near the Austrian border, and students regularly head into the South Tyrol region of Austria on foot for learning excursions with professors.

During the semester students also take more extended outings via
various European landmarks, cities and historic sites. Weekends are reserved for explorations with other students with iconic destinations from Venice to Vienna just a short train-ride away.

The Brunnenburg Semester is just one of dozens of programs offered around the world either directly through the college or with affiliated schools where credits are sure to transfer. Guilford also offers financial help in the form of scholarships to qualifying students.

This small college affiliated with the United Methodist Church in Jackson, Mississippi encourages all its students to study abroad, believing it is a “powerful tool for understanding and appreciating our complex world,”according to Millsap College’s website.

And the school has a really unique option in its campus on a 4,500-acre Biocultural Reserve on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. A hugely varied number of courses for a study abroad program are offered at the Yucatan campus, ranging from archaeology to ecology, geology to history, business and education, literature to social-cultural anthropology.

The Reserve also boasts an off-the-grid Research and Learning Center, which is a laboratory and research facility in the nearby town of
Oxkutzcab, and a dormitory-classroom facility. Students can also choose to return for multiple semesters and conduct research at the facility while continuing to take classes, making it a truly one-of-a-kind college study abroad program.

St. Olaf College has six of their own study abroad programs for students, and also participates in a consortium program with other colleges of similar academic standards and philosophies. This allows the small liberal arts college to offer more diversity in the international programs it offers, without sacrificing the mission of integrating academic and experiential education.

The school believes the experiential component of study abroad amplifies and extends the liberal learning that occurs on campus while enhancing “students’ global perspective by helping them encounter and understand changes confronting our world in a context of global community and world citizenship,” according to the St Olaf College website.

St Olaf run programs include a semester in Turkey and Morocco, comparing three Asian cultures in Asia or, a “Global Semester” where students studying in Europe, the Mideast and Asia over the course of the term, as well as options to study in environmental science in Australia, biology in India and Chinese society and culture in China.

More than 65% of Earlham College students will spend a semester or year in another country, and the college places a big emphasis on its study abroad opportunities. These include both Earlham specific and affiliated programs in everywhere from Tanzania to France, Germany to Austria.

Earlham itself sponsors programs in Japan, Ecuador, India, New Zealand, London and Spain. Each program is unique with a distinct focus. For instance, in India, you’ll be studying Tibet. Based in Dharamsala, home to the Dalai Lama and his exiled government, and considered the cultural and intellectual capital of the Tibetan exile community, students in this program gain in-depth, first-hand understanding of issues Tibetan
refugees face.

Programs are open to all students, regardless of major, but the liberal arts schools encourages participants to consider what fits best with regards to their field of study and future goals. Earlham also offers a very interesting domestic semester-long program out of Tucson, Arizona. Known as the Border Studies Program, it gives students a chance to examine the contentious immigration debate up close and personally.

From Dakar, Senegal to Perth, Australia, Chiang Mai, Thailand to Quito, Ecuador, Kalamazoo College students have options to study in far-flung corners of the globe, both in programs offered directly through the school’s Center for International Programs or with an affiliated program at an academically comparable college. There are 42 programs available in 23 countries, and most students at Kalamazoo spend at least six months out of the country before graduation.

Many of the Kalamazoo study abroad programs also allow students to earn credit for participating in an “Integrative Cultural Research Project.” For these students interact with the local community in a structured project manner of their creation that results in composing an essay for a grade at the end of the program. It’s another way for students to be able to immerse themselves in the culture and practice the language skills of the region being studied.

At Emerson College 85 lucky students get to spend a semester living and studying European cultures, civilizations, and languages at Kasteel Well, a beautifully restored 14th-century medieval castle, complete with two moats, in The Netherlands.

Students must apply a year in advance for the program, and are selected by a random lottery (it’s that popular!) for the school’s premier study abroad program.

The program, which lasts for a semester and is offered twice a year, focuses not only on rigorous classroom education but also on exploring beyond the castle’s lush grounds. As such the program has three-day weekends where independent travel is encouraged. There are also two group trips per semester to Amsterdam and either Vienna or Madrid.

Emerson’s program in Holland is just one of 10 unique international programs that the college in Boston sponsors. Other destinations that students can choose from include Shanghai, Spain, Beijing, and Mexico.

Whether you are studying indigenous Sami culture and connections to the land in Arctic Europe or island migrations, health and social justice in Sardinia, the University of Washington offers many
faculty-led study abroad programs that let students work closely with trusted university faculty members in small group settings.

“The programs really work to integrate travel, education, and service learning. It’s decidedly not, ‘Just go overseas and (play) around for a few months of credit,” says Adam Karlin, who participated in one of the university’s studies abroad programs. “It was some of the most challenging, rewarding, and fun experience I had in school.”

Another rewarding aspect of the University of Washington programs is that the professor leading the study abroad adventure is
responsible for designing the semester’s curriculum. Programs
are open to students from any of the three University of
Washington campuses.

Goucher College prides itself on its top-notch study abroad program. So much so that this innovative, small liberal arts college just outside of Baltimore, MD mandates all students study outside the country at least once before graduation.

“At Goucher College, we believe that no matter who you are or what you want to do in life, the global community of the 21st century demands that you have an international perspective,” according to the school’s study abroad page.

And with some 60 programs in 32 different countries lasting from three weeks to a year in length, Goucher offers endless possibilities: go to college in Australia, intern in London, practice peace building in Africa or enhance second language skills over a summer in Argentina or France, China or Jordan. Best of all, if once is not enough, Goucher also offers a list of additional international fellowship and volunteer opportunities for students craving more global immersion.