UW Praises Study Abroad Bill

March 21, 2007 -- University of Wyoming President Tom Buchanan today praised the introduction of the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007, legislation to establish a national study abroad fellowship program.

The bill, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), chairman and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee respectively, would create a national fellowship program, increasing the numbers of students studying abroad to one million per year. The program would be administered by an independent entity and would provide key support for necessary modifications at institutions of higher education to allow all college students the opportunity to study abroad.

"Internationalization is a key institutional issue in the university's Academic Plan, and study abroad plays a significant role in our planning," says Buchanan. "UW has formal connections with universities in Russia, Guatemala, Australia, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain, and we have fledgling ties to institutions in China, South Africa, and Tunisia.

"During the past academic year, more than 200 UW students took advantage of study abroad programs," says Buchanan. "Their experiences help enrich not only their own lives, but also imbue them with a global perspective that they bring back to the classroom here and help impact fellow students. Our goal, by 2009, is to increase the number of students studying abroad to 500."

Last year a similar bill in the Senate received overwhelming bipartisan support and had 46 co-sponsors before the session ended. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) say they will re-introduce a Senate bill in the near future.

Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2007

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