Study abroad experiences change lives. UW-Madison is fortunate to be able to offer these life-changing opportunities for our students to travel abroad and study many different fields from language, business, education, engineering, global health to agriculture and the life sciences. Students are sent to Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America-in fact to over 50 countries. Study overseas remains popular at Madison, with approximately 1300 UW-Madison undergraduate students studying abroad. In the most recent Institute for International Educational Education report, UW-Madison ranked 6th among research universities for the total number of students who studied abroad. Looking at national figures, the percentage of students on yearlong programs abroad is 8.3%. However, at UW-Madison that number jumps to 14.9%. UW semester long programs abroad have a 60% student participation compared to the national average of 39%. Clearly our students are reaching out to the far parts of the globe, becoming familiar with different cultures and languages-becoming global citizens. A major area of growth has been development and attendance in short-term programs. The growth in short-term programs, integrated in the home campus curriculum, allows more students who were previously unable to study abroad due to financial or curricular constraints to participate in an international education experience.
The generosity of two lead donors and other contributing study abroad alumni facilitate these rich experiences for our students. On April 14th 2005, these gifts will be awarded, some for the first time, to over thirty students for study around the world.
http://www.intlstudies.wisc.edu/news/scholarships05.asp