The University has the second highest percentage of undergraduates who study abroad among Ivy League schools, according to Kendall Brostuen, associate dean of the College and director of international programs. Brown is second only to Dartmouth College, which has a slightly higher percentage of students who study abroad.
35 percent of Brown students go abroad for either a semester or a year, compared with the 39 percent of students who go abroad during the academic year at Dartmouth.
Dartmouth, however, operates on a trimester system made up of three 10-week terms, so it sends students abroad for a shorter period of time.
The University of Pennsylvania has the next highest percentage, with 30 percent of its students studying abroad. Yale has the lowest figure, with 10 percent of students studying outside the United States, Brostuen said. These numbers only include students spending a semester or year abroad, not those who choose to undertake summer study or some other international experience.
Brostuen said the University has consistently seen a high percentage of its undergraduates go abroad over the past 10 years. He speculated that the nature of undergraduates at Brown may in part push them to consider international programs.
"Brown students are very inquisitive, very adventurous," he said. "The open curriculum encourages experimentation, and (studying abroad) is an extension of that."
Still, Brostuen said he would like to see even more students pursuing study abroad options.
"The value of international learning is enormous. Studying abroad gives students tools they can use beyond Brown," he said.
Brown's policies also facilitate spending time abroad, Brostuen said. For example, the University offers its own programs that are staffed by Brown faculty. Brown also has a policy that a student's financial aid packages travel with them when they study abroad.
The University's lack of core distribution requirements may further aid the process of studying abroad, he said.
Several Brown students interviewed by The Herald praised Brown's study abroad program.
Minoo Fadaifard '08, who is studying abroad in Paris this semester, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that she "was attracted to Brown because study abroad is not only accessible but encouraged."
Fadaifard was interested in studying abroad because she wanted to familiarize herself with another culture, and studying abroad presented a "license to travel and see the world."
She wrote that it was relatively easy for her to gain permission to go abroad, and she noted that she did not have to petition for credit because she is attending a Brown-run program.
Fadaifard wrote that she thinks many students choose to study abroad during the academic year because Brown already has such a strong study abroad transition.
"I think the fact that a lot of people study abroad is in turn also the reason many do. When you leave Brown for a semester you don't feel like you're out of the loop and that when you get back you're going to need to catch up with everyone," Fadaifard wrote.
She added that participating in a Brown-run program can make it easier to meet people and feel comfortable in a foreign country.
Study abroad at other Ivies
Princeton has one of the lower rates in the Ivy League, with about 14 percent of students studying abroad during the academic year, according to Nancy Kanach, associate dean of the college and director of the study abroad program at Princeton.
Kanach wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that this number, though somewhat lower than at other schools, may downplay the number of Princeton students who receive some form of international experience during college. In an exit poll of the class of 2006, 38 percent had "either studied abroad during the academic year or summer, worked or interned abroad, or conducted senior thesis research abroad during their undergraduate years," Kanach wrote.
Kanach added that Princeton encourages students to study abroad and would like to increase the number of students who participate in an international program. Princeton is currently trying to increase the number of abroad options available to students during the summer, she wrote.
Kanach suggested that some students may want to remain on campus because of extracurricular or athletic obligations or because of the independent work that all Princeton A.B. students must complete in their junior year.
Study abroad offices at other Ivy League universities could not be reached for comment.
However, students at schools where studying abroad is less common noted possible disadvantages of leaving their campus for a year or semester.
Sofie Hodara, a junior at Penn, chose not to study abroad this year.
"I'm not doing study abroad because there's just too much to take advantage of at Penn," Hodara said. "Most kids do it because it's an awesome opportunity, and it's like a break from Penn since they see it as an easier semester."
Hodara said Penn does not go out of its way to promote study abroad programs despite the fact that it maintains a relatively high percentage of students studying abroad.
Other schools with lower study abroad rates, such as Princeton, seem to advocate studying abroad. According to the Web site for Princeton's Study Abroad Program, "Study abroad can enrich - and even change - your life. It is one of the few opportunities most of us have to live in a foreign culture for an extended period of time!"
The Web sites of other schools underscore concerns students might have about choosing to study abroad. The "Frequently Asked Questions" section on the Princeton Study Abroad Program's Web site includes questions regarding missing out on summer internships and jeopardizing the chance for honors.
The Yale International Education and Fellowship Programs Web site also discusses students' worries that they will not be eligible for Phi Beta Kappa or will not be able to be tapped for a secret society if they study abroad.
