From: Phil deHaan (dehp@calvin.edu)
Date: Mon Nov 18 2002 - 14:37:35 EST
November 18, 2002 == FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Calvin College is again one of the top schools in the country for students who
study abroad.
In 2000-2001 the school had 486 students studying in other countries. That
placed Calvin seventh in the category of master's institutions, just ahead of
Philadelphia's Villanova University. Grand Valley State University was 15th in
the category with 355 students.
The figures come from Institute for International Education and its annual
"Open Doors" statistical report.
With an enrollment of about 4,300 students in 2000-2001, Calvin's percentage of
students studying abroad that year is significant. Indeed, the 486 students who
were overseas in 2000-2001 represent 11 percent of the total student body that
year! In fact, when ranked by percentage Calvin rises to third in its category
(since many of the schools in Calvin's category are significantly bigger than
Calvin).
Study abroad is an important component of a Calvin education. The school's
off-campus programs effort allows Calvin students to travel to 10 destinations
for semester-long study programs, including two in Honduras as well as programs
in Britain, China, France, Ghana, Hungary and Spain. Calvin also has
semester-long U.S. programs in New Mexico and Washington, D.C. For students who
need a program focus not available in Calvin's own programs, the off-campus
programs office helps them find one that suits their needs.
Says Calvin's Ellen Monsma, director of off-campus programs: "Off-campus
programs broaden students' horizons significantly. Not only do they study
academic courses, they also learn how to live in new and sometimes very
different cultures. That demands a lot of flexibility and self-reliance.
Returning to campus, students generally have a clearer idea of who they are.
And they have a new perspective both on the world and on their Christian
calling."
More and more Calvin students are taking advantage of the chance to study
abroad in Calvin sponsored programs. Almost 50% of Calvin's Class of 2002
studied abroad at some point during their Calvin career. For about two-thirds of
those students their study abroad came during Calvin's three-week January term
called Interim. About one-third of the students who study abroad do so for an
entire semester.
For more see http://opendoors.iienetwork.org
Also see http://www.calvin.edu/academic/off-campus/
Contact Ellen Monsma at 616-957-6551
-end-
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Nov 18 2002 - 14:37:51 EST