On November 16, IIE released their annual Open Doors Report. It gives a range of data on international education from the 2007\/2008 academic school year. This years’ report shows that the number of Americans studying abroad grew by 8.5% to 262,416 students studying overseas. It also states that over the past twenty years, study abroad has increased fourfold.<\/p>\n
The top twenty-five destinations where students traditionally study saw an increase in participants. However, most notable increases were in less common destinations. Some of these countries included: China, Ireland, Austria and India (up 20%). Japan, Argentina, Costa Rica and South Africa (up 15%) saw a rise in Americans students. The increase in these less traditional destinations can be attributed to new program opportunities, strategic partnerships between US and international higher institutions, and expanded programs to accommodate a diversifying study abroad population. The most popular type of study abroad program<\/a> is the “short term” program. 56% of those studying abroad went on short term programs. These typically range between two and eight weeks and take place during the summer and January terms.<\/p>\n New York University sent the most students abroad with 3,395 while Michigan State University came in second with 2,969. University of Minnesota Twin Cities, University of Texas – Austin and University of California – Los Angelos also sent a large number of students abroad. Over 53 institutions throughout the United States sent more than 1,000 of their students abroad. While the large institutions send the most students abroad, 23 schools throughout the US sent more than 80% of their students abroad. Some of these schools are Earlham College, Hamline University, and Berea College.<\/p>\n