New opportunities in international study programs and financing are responding to the steady increases in the number of McDaniel students choosing to study abroad for a semester or term.

“If I ruled the world, I’d send everyone abroad because it would enlarge their thinking and world view,” says Rose Falkner, director of international and off-campus study for McDaniel.

In fact, McDaniel students aren’t alone in their quest for international experiences. Since the academic year 2000-01, the number of U.S. students studying abroad rose by almost 20 percent, according to Open Doors, the annual report from the Institute of International Education.

Liberal arts colleges lead the pack, and McDaniel is keeping pace with national trends. During academic year 2005-6, enrollments hit an all-time high of 55 semester students studying abroad and 102 on overseas Jan Terms.

The growth is even more marked at McDaniel’s Budapest campus, where the number of U.S. students planning to study in Hungary in the fall more than doubled for the second year in a row. In the spring of 2006, the first student from another college studied in Budapest through McDaniel. A second student will attend this fall.

 “Living in Budapest was like a dream and I miss it every day,” says McDaniel senior Melissa Gallo, who studied in Budapest last spring. “There is no way to explain the excitement and the strangeness of living in a foreign city, where about 13 other people speak your language and the food is all bizarre. It's wonderful. I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

Not only are they attracted to the range of courses and the cultural experience in the heart of Europe, Falkner says, but students also take advantage of a financial benefit: McDaniel College scholarships and financial aid transfer to the Hungary campus.

Students can benefit from the same financial arrangement in spring 2007, as the College welcomes a new exchange program with Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis, a campus in the heart of Brussels. The program features an English-based curriculum strong in the social sciences.

Also this year, Denmark’s International Studies Program will be added to the list of international programs affiliated with McDaniel. Through the affiliate program, students can study in Russia, South Africa, China, and dozens of other countries around the world. Denmark’s International Studies Program in Copenhagen boasts Humanities and Social Science programs ranging from architecture and ceramics to environmental studies, industrial design and law. Learn more about it here: http://www.dis.dk/

Falkner, as head of the International Programs Office established two years ago, gives class presentations and holds study abroad fairs and information sessions throughout the year in order to encourage students to study abroad.

Three faculty-members will teach in Hungary this year: Assistant Professor of Communication Jon Slade in the fall, Assistant Professor of Economics Kevin McIntyre during Jan Term, and Associate Professor of Music Robin Armstrong in the spring.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to teach Hollywood classics and documentary production in Budapest,” says Slade. “There’s clearly a love of cinema there. I also can’t wait to learn more about the great traditions of Hungarian film.”

This is the second year McDaniel will hold a Jan Term course in Budapest. Other new overseas destinations in the three-week Jan Term include China, England, Guatemala and Italy. More than 100 students traveled overseas during the 2006 Jan Term, exploring countries including Israel, Cameroon and tropical Belize.

To read what students are saying about the College’s study abroad program, click here: http://www.mcdaniel.edu/studyabroad

For stories from Jan Term 2006, click here: http://www.mcdaniel.edu/news_927.htm