Why should your son or daughter study abroad?
You may be asking yourself this question. After all, study abroad was never as popular a choice nor as accessible an opportunity as it is now. Still, it's a complicated decision for students and their parents, involving a myriad of considerations including (among many others) finances, academic and career plans, and the timing of a semester abroad. Though we try to make it as affordable as we can, we understand that going on a global education program represents an enormous investment in time and effort for the family.
One of the Center for Global Education's (CGE) prime missions is to help students make the most of the opportunities afforded by study abroad. We want them to go abroad fully aware of the enormous opportunity they have, and the potential this experience has for their personal and professional growth. We work to send them abroad with all the necessary tools to reap these benefits.
Our short answer to the question above is that we believe that students need to be engaged with the world. This is reflected in our Mission Statement:
The mission of the Center for Global Education is to provide students with academically challenging study abroad experiences that foster an in-depth understanding of another culture, with the aim of encouraging them to embrace the concept of global citizenship. Being a responsible, effective citizen of the world involves assuming an active role in one's own community and in the larger world; it requires an understanding of the relationship between actions made locally and globally and a commitment to the betterment of people's lives everywhere. Through our study abroad programs, the Center for Global Education strives to provide students with a transformative learning experience that inspires them to live lives of consequence.
When we talk to students, we present three specific reasons why all students should think about global education:
- A global education program can be the single most transformative experience of their college education. Your son or daughter will develop an ever greater sense of independence, self-reliance and a deeper understanding of themselves, their country, and the rest of the world. Their professors tell us that students who return from abroad tend to have sharpened their academic goals and have a more developed sense of their career goals. Students' GPAs also tend to improve after a study abroad experience.
- Living abroad as a student, and traveling abroad as a tourist, are two qualitatively different things. The experience of living immersed in a different culture may never come again. Students who have studied abroad, with little variation, refer to their experiences as being the best of their lives...so all students should try to seize this chance while they are able.
- Nation-wide, about 2% of U.S. college students participate in study abroad programs. Having this experience on their resume will set them apart from 98% of their peers (and their competition) in the global marketplace. One of the realities of "globalization" is that employees increasingly work in cross-cultural environments where a knowledge of the rest of the world - and specifically how people of different cultures communicate - is more necessary than ever. Employers and professional and graduate schools have recognized this reality and have started emphasizing a set of skills called "global competency": the ability to operate successfully across cultures.
HWS Study Abroad Facts
- HWS offers study abroad programs that will enhance or complement any major or minor. For more information about specific programs, please see our webpage.
- An HWS global education program functions in many ways just like an on-campus semester: grades and credits for the courses students take will appear on their transcripts and their performance will factor into their GPA. (But while students' credits and grades work just like they do on campus, their off-campus experience will be anything but typical.)
- Junior year is a popular time for many students to participate in a global education program. That being said, however, every year sophomores and seniors participate in our programs - even seniors in their spring semester!
- The costs of an HWS study abroad program are similar to what students would pay for an on-campus semester. In all cases, students pay standard HWS tuition. The room and board fee varies from program to program, depending on the structure of the board plan and the housing type. There is a $600 administrative fee for all global education programs and students must cover their airfare. However, students abroad generally spend less on books and are not charged the "student activities fee" while they are abroad.
- All financial aid applies to the student's HWS global education program tuition and fees with the exception of work study.
- We strongly encourage all students (and parents) concerned that finances may make study abroad an out-of-reach opportunity to speak directly with the CGE. In this short space we cannot provide all the information that might be relevant to each person's unique situation.
What Every First Year Student Should Do
- Start planning now! HWS global education program applications are due one year before the programs depart. If a student wants to participate in a program in the fall of their Junior year, he or she would have to apply in the fall of their Sophomore year.
- Visit the Center for Global Education. We are located on the third floor of Trinity Hall. Students can visit us any weekday from 9-5, talk to someone about our global education programs, pick up information and application materials, and make an appointment to meet one-on-one with one of our staff members to discuss their options. While there, students can wander around the Global Visions Gallery - a photography and art gallery made up of student work accomplished while abroad.
- Talk to their advisers about how a global education program fits into their academic and career goals.
- Talk to their peers who have been abroad.
- Keep their grades up. Participation in a global education program is a privilege (just look at the national statistic!) and not a right. These programs have minimum GPA requirements and are competitive; students should hit the books and start planning how they will integrate their experience into their overarching academic plans. Keep in mind that students must be in good social, as well as academic, standing.
- Many global education programs have prerequisites that need to be completed before students depart for the program. Students should plan accordingly!
- Consider studying a foreign language. Language proficiency is a valuable skill in the global marketplace that opens up greater academic and career opportunities. Some of our programs have language prerequisites.
THE GLOBAL EDUCATION PROCESS
Before Students Go
While Students are Abroad
Communication
For the first time, you may feel like your son or daughter is a little further away than a phone call, email or text can reach. Although almost all students will have email access abroad, in some countries it is much more limited than they are used to. In homestays, use of the phone may be limited by host families to pre-arranged calls or phone cards that they purchase and use at local payphones. You should expect to be able to reach your son or daughter, but you should also expect that this will not be as easy as it is now. While some students abroad are either issued with or choose to purchase cell phones, this is by no means the rule.
Tip: Make sure you have a calendar of your student's program at hand. These are published in the handbook they are given for their program before they leave campus. One of the reasons there might be a lapse in normal communications is that s/he is on a scheduled field excursion or is traveling on break.
Medical coverage while students are abroad
On insurance, your son or daughter may be covered abroad by your health policy - this is something that you will need to check with your insurance company. Some programs will have insurance included as part of the abroad program and we will let students know if this is the case. Students are required to have insurance that is valid worldwide as a condition of participating in a program abroad. They also need to ensure that they have medical evacuation and repatriation coverage. It is easy to buy that separately and cheaply (your son or daughter can purchase an ISIC card at www.myisic.com if they are covered by your insurance and only need the evacuation and repatriation.)
For those not covered by a parent's policy who would like to purchase a comprehensive medical policy that includes evacuation and repatriation coverage, here are some providers we have worked with: HTH World Wide - (click on the "quote" button on the GeoBlue Voyager plan). If this policy is not offered in your state, you can type in the Geneva, NY zipcode (14456), since all HWS students are also considered New York residents. The other provider is Trawick International. Click on "Safe travels international" and enter the info requested to get an online quote. Be sure to choose the level of coverage and deductible you would like from the dropdown menus.
Students also have the option of purchasing the year-long Gallagher Student Health policy through HWS, but while the year-long policy is fine if a student will be in the U.S., we strongly recommend that you purchase a specific study abroad policy for a student who will be abroad. The reason for this is that the year-long policy only covers 70% of any medical costs abroad and you would be responsible for the remaining 30%. If your son or daughter needed any kind of extended hospital care abroad, the cost could be prohibitive.
You may instead choose to purchase a policy elsewhere, but if you do, you need to make sure that the coverage is comprehensive and that it includes evacuation and repatriation coverage. If you do not purchase the year-long HWS policy through Gallagher Student Health (and instead purchase a policy elsewhere), then your son or daughter needs to waive this coverage on the Gallagher Student Health website by clicking on "student waive/enroll." If they do not waive the coverage, then the year-long policy will be purchased for them automatically and will appear on their tuition bill.
Visiting
Your student will be experiencing things completely new to them and many students report back to us that their study abroad experience is the most significant and powerful of their undergraduate education. So it is natural that your student may want you to visit, and vice versa. This can be a great opportunity for you to get an idea of what they are experiencing first hand - something that will help later on when your student returns from abroad.
Tip: Please do not plan to visit your son or daughter when class is in session; they will not be excused from their classes to be with you. Some programs also have required fieldtrips, so you need to plan your visit around these. A good time to visit is during a semester break if they have one (not all programs do), or when the program finishes.
Relating to their experience
The best way for you to think about what your student will experience abroad is to consider the analogous situation of when they first went away to college. Many of the emotions, fears, rewards and challenges are similar. When they came to HWS, they needed to learn how to navigate an entirely new culture. They had to learn a language (what is "Saga"?, what is a "registration pin number"?, etc), obtain new skills (how to do their laundry, how to access their meal plans) and meet new people. Your student will have to go through all of this again abroad, but with the additional challenge of different social norms and customs (and sometimes a foreign language on top of it.) The process is exciting but also challenging. It can be difficult at times. To best understand what your student will experience, you might like to read the Getting Ready section of our website.
Sometime in the first couple of weeks, you may get a disturbing communication from your student. They may say that they hate it. They may complain about their host family or their living space. They may feel homesick and alienated. Again, you may have received a similar phone call early in your student's first semester at HWS. Often what is needed from you is support and reinforcement. Many students go through periods like this early on in what they later will call the best experience of their college years, if not their lives.
One of the reasons why study abroad can be so challenging is that many students, despite our best efforts to prepare them for the reality of their experience, still go abroad with too many preconceived notions or unrealistic expectations. We try to address the most significant of these at our orientation session. The two areas where students experience the most frustration are email access and housing. As we noted above, people in many countries do not enjoy the level of internet access that HWS students do. That's a reality that we cannot change, though we do our best to make sure that some access is available either at their local host institution or in internet cafes.
In regard to housing, it is difficult to prepare students for the significant changes they will experience in terms of living space, privacy and location. The CGE strives to provide clean and safe housing that is appropriate to the local context. In London or Rome, this means a lot less space than many students enjoy here at HWS. In host family situations especially, students may experience a loss of privacy and creature comforts that they did not expect. They may be sharing a room with a host sister or brother, their access to the phone may be restricted, and they may be asked to take much shorter showers than they are used to. All of these differences are based on economic realities and differences in culture. In general, even in other highly-developed countries, phones, hot water and electricity are much more expensive than they are here. Housing is also more expensive and scarcer, and many families live their entire lives in apartments. Our student housing abroad is safe, clean and comfortable, but students should not expect that it will be as spacious or as centrally-located as it is at HWS. If there is a genuine safety issue with housing, the Center for Global Education will address the issue. Short of this, however, we tell all students going abroad "Don't expect, accept." Part of the experience of study abroad is understanding the differences in local realities.
Tip: Life goes on while your student is abroad, and they may feel an urge to "catch up" when they return, and may feel guilty that they missed important family events. Keep a record of what happens in your family during the time that your son or daughter is abroad. Though they may be gone the same amount of time that they are normally absent while at HWS, the mental/emotional distance can feel much greater, especially given the potentially fewer opportunities to communicate.
