UNH First Connecticut College to Pledge Doubling Study Abroad Program

March 3, 2014

WEST HAVEN, CONN.  – The University of New Haven has become the first college in Connecticut to join Generation Study Abroad, a national initiative by the Institute of International Education (IIE) to double the number of American students who study abroad by the end of the decade.

More than 150 colleges around the country—including Cornell, James Madison, College of William and Mary, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania—   have made a commitment to the Generation Study Abroad program, launched today in New York.

“Enriching international education activities and markedly increasing the number of students who study abroad will further UNH’s mission of preparing students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a global society,” said UNH President Steven H. Kaplan.  “As a leader in experiential education, UNH seeks to expand the opportunities available to our students and to enhance their appreciation for diverse cultures and viewpoints.”

During the 2011-2012 academic year, 137 UNH students participated in semester-long and short-term study abroad programs.  By the end of the decade, UNH hopes to increase that number to at least 275 annually. The university is building institutional partnerships in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and it operates its own satellite campus in Tuscany, Italy. 

Building on its nearly 100-year commitment to study abroad, IIE has committed $2 million of its own funds to the Generation Study Abroad program over the next five years. Higher education institutions from 41 U.S. states have already signed the Generation Study Abroad commitment, including state and private universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving institutions.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and several foreign governments, as well as key higher education associations and study-abroad provider organizations, have pledged to support the initiative. Generation Study Abroad aims to grow participation in study abroad so that the annual total reported will reach 600,000 students by the end of the decade.  

“Globalization has changed the way the world works, and employers are increasingly looking for workers who have international skills and expertise,” said Allan Goodman, president of IIE. “Studying abroad must be viewed as an essential component of a college degree and critical to preparing future leaders.”

For more information on IIE’s Generation Study Abroad initiative, and a complete list of commitment partners, go to www.iie.org/generationstudyabroad.

The University of New Haven is a private, top-tier comprehensive institution recognized as a national leader in experiential education. Founded in 1920 on the campus of Yale University in cooperation with Northeastern University, UNH moved to its current West Haven campus in 1960. The University operates a satellite campus in Tuscany, Italy, and a graduate business campus in Orange, Conn. and offers programs at several locations throughout Connecticut and in New Mexico. UNH provides its students with a unique combination of a solid liberal arts education and real-world, hands-on career and research opportunities. The University enrolls approximately 6,400 students, including nearly 1,800 graduate students and more than 4,600 undergraduates – the majority of whom reside in University housing. Through its College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, Tagliatela College of Engineering, and College of Lifelong & eLearning, UNH offers 75 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. UNH students have access to more than 50 study abroad programs worldwide, and its student-athletes compete in 16 varsity sports in the NCAA Division II’s highly competitive Northeast-10 Conference.

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