Bill proposes visionary program to ensure that Americans are internationally educated
WASHINGTON, July 27, 2006 – The Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Act, introduced yesterday by Senators Dick Durbin (D – Ill.) and Norm Coleman (R – Minn.), offers a historic opportunity to ensure that future generations of Americans are prepared with the international skills and knowledge they will need to effectively manage foreign-policy challenges and to succeed in an interconnected world. It proposes an innovative partnership between the federal government and higher education to dramatically expand participation by U.S. undergraduates in study abroad programs.
This bipartisan legislation’s vision is that one million U.S. college students will study abroad annually in ten years’ time, and that study abroad opportunities will become more diverse in terms of participants, fields of study, and destinations, especially in the developing world. Today, only about one percent of U.S. college undergraduates have studied abroad, despite opinion polls that indicate that more than three-quarters of Americans believe it is important to do so.
The United States’ ability to lead responsibly in the world, to effectively confront emerging threats, and to thrive in the global economy, will depend on preparing our citizens with foreign-language competence and cross-cultural knowledge. One of the best ways to do this is through study abroad. As such, it must be an integral part of a complete college education and the centerpiece of a national effort to ensure that the next generation of Americans is ready for life and leadership in the 21st century. Study abroad is more than an education issue – it is a national security and foreign policy issue.
The Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Act was inspired by the work of the late Senator Paul Simon and informed by the report of a national commission. In his preface to the 2003 NAFSA task force report Securing America’s Future: Global Education for a Global Age, Senator Simon laid out his vision: that with many more of our college students studying abroad, the United States would be “more understanding of the world . . . creating a base of public opinion that would encourage responsible action.” In 2005, a bipartisan federal commission, appointed by Congress and President Bush, submitted a report recommending a national effort to dramatically increase study abroad by American students, with special attention to expanding study abroad opportunities in the developing world.
The legislation introduced by Senators Durbin and Coleman focuses attention on the fact that the biggest obstacles to study abroad are not purely financial ones. While some students need financial support to study abroad, it is more often on-campus factors – those related to curriculum, faculty involvement, institutional leadership, and programming – that make the biggest difference. In addition to proposing a pool of direct scholarships, the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Program also encourages institutions to address on-campus barriers to study abroad, by making a commitment to institutional reform a prerequisite for access to federal funds.
NAFSA places its full support behind this important and innovative proposal. We urge Congress to pass and fully fund the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Act, and we encourage our colleagues in higher education to do their part to make study abroad the norm, not the exception, among American college students.
NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education.
