“Once upon a time, in a land far, far away…” Many of our childhood stories share this beginning, the legends that venture to exotic destinations in search of adventure and success.
For Clemson students, that “land far away” is closer than ever, thanks to an increasingly globalized world and dozens of opportunities to explore it by studying abroad. 1149 Clemson students from 77 majors studied abroad in 55 different countries in the 2012-13 academic year. In January, the Institute of International Education (IIE) recognized Clemson Study Abroad with the 2014 Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education for the Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries project in Haiti. This award honors outstanding initiatives in international education and signals a new role for international education on Clemson’s campus.
Numerous studies demonstrate that study abroad students have higher graduation rates and higher mean GPAs than their peers, in addition to increased political awareness, functional knowledge, and a broader worldview. On her second full day of a week-long goodwill tour in China, Michelle Obama lauded study abroad as a key part of U.S. foreign policy and encouraged students from all walks of life to consider joining the growing corps of citizen diplomats such study fosters.
“Globalization has changed the way the world works, and employers are increasingly looking for workers who have international skills and expertise,” says Dr. Allan Goodman, president of IIE. “Studying abroad must be viewed as an essential component of a college degree and critical to preparing future leaders.”
Although the personal, academic, and career benefits of studying abroad are well established, only a 
fraction of today’s students pursue these international experiences. Currently, fewer than 10 percent of all U.S. college students study abroad at some point in their academic career. At Clemson, only 28 percent of degree-seeking undergraduates participated in a study abroad experience during 2013. While there are multiple factors contributing to this small number, one of the most significant is an attitude pervading Clemson’s campus: among all the possibilities associated with a college education, study abroad is still seen as remote; studying abroad is an “if.”
“If I study abroad…”
“If I find a program…”
“If I can take my major courses…”
At Clemson Study Abroad, we believe that studying abroad is a “when,” not an “if”, for each Clemson student:
- When your student goes abroad, it will be a defining moment in their Clemson experience.
- When your student finds a program with our office, it will offer unique opportunities that they couldn’t access on campus.
- When your student takes major courses on a faculty-led, exchange, or third-party program, they will change the way they view their discipline.
This March, Clemson University joined more than 160 higher education institutions from 40 U.S. states in signing IIE’s Generation Study Abroad Commitment. The goal of ‘Generation Study Abroad’ is to double the number of U.S. students who study, intern, and volunteer abroad by the year 2020. This goal aligns with Clemson University’s existing international goals in the 2020 Strategic Plan and Road Map, which include a call to double the number of students abroad.
At Clemson, we emphasize the importance of global awareness and believe that a study abroad experience raises this awareness, creating knowledgeable leaders. If you want to know more about incorporating study abroad into your students’ Clemson experience, contact our office—together, we can shift this attitude of “if” to a vision of “when” students will go abroad!
