At Goucher College, every single student pursuing a degree is expected to study abroad for at least some amount of time. According to the school, there is much to be gained by doing so.
Goucher College
Though Goucher’s study abroad requirement was implemented in 2006, the motivations behind it can be traced back to the school’s founder, the Rev. John Franklin Goucher, said Dr. Matthew Van Hoose, Goucher’s associate vice president for global, career, and community-based learning.
"If you look back at his writings, he's someone who, at that time, believed that greater intercultural understanding, more robust global engagement, would really be one of the keys to addressing the world's great problems in his time,” Hoose said. “We believe that our students need to be able to successfully, sensitively, and compassionately navigate social and cultural boundaries in order to be successful in their careers and engaged citizens."
The Baltimore institution proudly boasts that 100% of its students graduate with international experience. To make that a reality, it partners with several international institutions worldwide and offers a number of different study abroad options for its students – 100 opportunities in more than 40 countries, according to its website.
Students can choose to spend an entire Fall or Spring semester abroad, in places such as Finland, Brazil, Estonia, Vietnam, and Australia. Once there, for “comparable” academics, room, and board, students pay the same rates that they would pay if they were studying on-campus at Goucher for the semester. And financial aid packages that apply on-campus follow them as well, Hoose said.
"What we find, is that gives students some predictability,” Hoose said. “That gives them free range to choose between our wide variety of semester-long programs, knowing that there's not going to be some sort of large, unexpected, or hidden cost. We don't have any tuition surcharges associated with our programs."
To note, the students in these semester-long programs are responsible for their flights and travel costs, but Goucher’s Office of Global Education takes such costs into account when divvying out scholarships, Hoose said in an email.
