Posted: August 10,
2015
The United States
of America has one of the best educational systems in the world. We pride
ourselves as being international leaders, world travelers, and entrepreneurs in
the land of opportunity. However, our academic structure is lacking.
In the past 20 years,
the world has become incredibly small. With more and more international
flights, as well as the expansion of the Internet, the world is quite literally
at our fingertips. Unfortunately, this innovation isn't transferring to our
educational system. International study from universities within the United
States has nearly doubled in the last decade, yet this growth is one of the
lowest in the world. Europe and Asia have surpassed the U.S. substantially and
the deficit is growing every day.
Why does this
matter? In a study that the University of California recently conducted, they
found that, on average, students who studied abroad made 25 percent more in
their starting salaries than students who did not study abroad. If this pattern
continued for the rest of their lives, students who studied abroad would make
$567,500 more throughout their career than students who did not study abroad.
So, in essence,
studying abroad could mean making more than half a million dollars over someone
who did not study abroad.
While the
difference in pay is obviously enticing, the problem that students in the U.S.
are now facing is unemployment. Our students are receiving degrees from higher
education while being faced with the fact that the endless nights of studying
and hard work don't always pay off. Rising college expenses, harder college
exams, more hours and credits to get a degree, and then students can't even
count on a job immediately after college.
In the study by
the University of California, benefits of gaining employment after studying
abroad were also addressed. They found that 97 percent of students who studied
abroad had a job within 12 months of graduating. This is compared with 49
percent of students who received a job within 12 months of graduating and did not
study abroad.
Studying abroad
gave students nearly double the chance of getting a job within one year after
their college graduation.
The question
arises: Why aren't more American university students taking advantage of this
opportunity, especially with these incredible benefits? I took it upon myself
to bring this question to university students who did not study abroad. I asked
100 college students or recent college graduates several questions about
studying abroad with the biggest question being why they didn't.
The answers I
received weren't all that surprising. I felt the highest response for not
studying abroad likely would be because of the cost, and it was; 41 percent of
students didn't study abroad because of financial reasons, and their college or
university didn't provide financial support. This wasn't surprising because
most study-abroad programs are significantly more expensive than the
universities' tuition. This obviously causes the majority of students to not
even consider the option.
The second-highest
reason, at 25 percent, was because the student felt that studying abroad did
not pertain to his or her area of study. This is problematic. The fact that 25
percent didn't think that it would be relevant reveals that students seem to be
learning very little about the world in the classroom. If they were, they would
know that many European and Asian countries have excelled--some would say even
passed American standards--in math, science, environmental engineering, and the
arts. Studying abroad can not only broaden students' horizons, it also can
enhance their education, provide them with worldwide experiences, break down
cultural barriers, and ultimately set them apart from their peers.
The United States
has the opportunity and responsibility to monopolize on international study for
their university students; that can only support the claim that our nation is
full of world leaders.
Studying abroad
provides culturally educated students who will bring ideas and innovation to
our boardrooms, doctors' offices, laboratories, and classrooms. Experiencing
the world and how it works will give our "melting pot" of a nation
the opportunity to be the best that it can be through our future generations
and beyond.
Carly Shelby
earned a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Arkansas,
and is a graduate student from Richmond, The American International University
in London.
