Ball State students are often told they are graduating into a world of international connections. An increasing number of them are exploring those connections firsthand before they graduate.

In the 2007-08 academic year, 790 students studied abroad for at least part of the year. That number was 20 percent higher than the previous year and a more than 50 percent increase from 2004-05. The university’s strategic plan calls for 1,000 students to participate in study abroad programs by 2012.

Study abroad opportunities are offered on six continents and range in length from a few weeks to an academic year.

Jill McKinney, study abroad director at the university, attributes the growth to better addressing student concerns. “More students understand the benefits of global understanding. They understand that cross-cultural skills are needed for jobs they will have in the future,” she said. “But they still hesitated to study abroad. I conducted research shortly after I came to Ball State in 2005, and that hesitation fell into three main categories: financial considerations, course transfer, and language proficiency. Now we directly address those concerns. I think that overcomes the initial barriers, and students are at least willing to come into the Rinker Center for International Programs to explore the option of studying abroad.”

McKinney said Ball State allows students direct credit for studying abroad in one of the more than 65 approved programs, and it underwrites the financial aid for those programs. “That university involvement addresses two of the big student concerns and also clearly states that we consider study abroad an important academic offering,” she said.

McKinney said that study-abroad programs complement the other objectives in Ball State’s strategic plan, such as immersive learning. “Study abroad by definition is immersive, but we feature many programs that offer internships or service learning as part of the experience,” she said. “We even had a fashion design major working as a summer intern at Armani in London.”

The commitment to increasing study abroad also has been embraced by Ball State’s faculty. “Several new faculty projects are being funded to internationalize the curriculum,” McKinney said. “We have worked with faculty across campus to provide them the tools to create overseas field studies. All this has allowed more faculty members to support study abroad, which in turn, increases student interest.”

Learn more about studying abroad.