| AU Leads the Way in Study Abroad
Although AU students are often a cut above the rest, when it comes to studying abroad they are leaps and bounds ahead of other U.S. college students. Consider the fact that while less than one percent of the U.S. college students study abroad, a whopping 62 percent of graduating AU students have studied in foreign countries.
"Since 2002, the total number of AU students going abroad in the AU abroad programs has doubled...This was our goal and we hoped to achieve it in four years. We've done it in two," says Robert Pastor, vice president of international affairs.
This increase is due in part to the hard work of many AU staff members. AU has increased the number and quality of study abroad sites. Over the past three years, AU has quintupled the number of summer and semester abroad sites — from 20 to 103, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Egypt, Kenya, Spain, Scotland, and South Africa, among others. In addition, "we have developed strategic partnerships with some of the best universities in the world to allow our students to study side-by-side with local students," Pastor said. And AU students are responding to this change enthusiastically. In just one year, the number of students enrolling at AU's partner institutions has increase fivefold. Lastly, in an effort to improve the quality and substance of AU's study abroad programs, AU has pushed to further involve their study abroad students with the local culture, focusing on non-English speaking programs and offering intense language training prior to departure. AU has always prided itself at being a global institution - providing our students the opportunity to experience different cultures throughout the world only furthers this mission.
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