Universities Abroad.org The highest quality, most academically rigorous study abroad experience in the world
What?
Universities Abroad.org
AFS ventures into tertiary education programs, working with our AFS partners in China and the USA as well as cooperating with IES Abroad. Both AFS and IES Abroad are international not for profit organizations, founded right after the second World War to provide intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world. We’re not your normal college or university. In a way, we function like anyone’s home university or college except our classrooms are in exciting destinations around the world and are filled with a mix of local and international students. We offer more than 50 programs in 19 countries in Europe, Asia, The Americas and Africa. Students feel at home living in places like Cape Town, Paris, Berlin or Quito. Whether living in a homestay with a local family, a residence hall, or an apartment, they will meet people who will change how they see the world. For an authentic experience, we believe that where our students live should be reflective of how local students are living. Our goal is that when they leave their host city, it will feel like home. We want to provide students with the highest quality academic and cultural study-abroad experience possible. With us, the city where they study abroad is part of their education. The city is their classroom. Our world-class professors will show them places tourists don’t get to see, and they will experience first-hand the people and places they are learning about. Their studies will come alive.
Why? Impact of our programs
Better language skills The ability to speak and use a foreign language provides countless advantages in the workforce as well as in everyday life. The type of immersive experience provided by our programs is one of the most effective ways to learn another language. Many students achieve fluency during their time away and, even twenty years after their sojourn, report this as one of the most important benefits received.
Lifelong intercultural competencies
Greater intercultural sensitivity
Beyond simply continuing their academic studies in
Our programs result in alumni who are more
a new setting, our enhanced UniversitiesAbroad.org
interculturally sensitive and globally aware.
programs help students develop more effective cross-
We are using the Developmental Model of
cultural communication skills, appreciate different
Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS), a research-
cultural perspectives and deepen their own emotional
based model that identifies varying worldviews
intelligence and empathy. These abilities help
through which people perceive cultural
program participants learn how to work effectively
difference, in combination with a related
and appropriately in different environments—
measurement instrument, the Intercultural
necessary skills in our interconnected world that will
Development Inventory (IDI). Recent studies
stay with them for life.
show that the structured learning abroad offered in our programs moves individuals from
Multifaceted careers & lifestyles Research has shown that our program alumni go on to have more diversity in their academic, professional, and social networks. They are also significantly more likely than their peers to have careers that involve working extensively with other cultures, and are
ethnocentric (closed) outlooks towards more ethnorelative (open) positions that appreciate difference and seek to understand the values and perspectives that shape these.
Personal development & growth
almost 50% more likely to live and work abroad for an
Our participants experience dramatically lowered
extended period.
feelings of anxiety in new environments as a result of their time abroad. Not only do they feel more comfortable around people from other cultures, they are much less likely to view the world in terms of “them” and “us.” Our longterm research demonstrates that these traits endure well beyond the experience abroad, up to twenty-five years after our programs.
Who? The hosting partners
IES ABROAD is a leading provider of study abroad programs for more than 200 top U.S. colleges and universities, as well as international students from around the world. As a not-for-profit founded in 1950 with 90,000 alumni, academic excellence, cultural integration, and student safety have been vital to IES Abroad’s growth and long-term viability. Today, through more than 115 programs offered in 35 locations around the globe, IES Abroad continues to provide nearly 5,300 students each year with unmatched academic, social and cultural experiences abroad. IES Abroad is a team of passionate study abroad enthusiasts who believe that every student should have the opportunity to live and learn abroad— especially in a fun, safe and superior academic and cultural environment. From their headquarters in Chicago, to their on-site staff at locations around the world, IES Abroad is dedicated to the common goal of providing life-changing study abroad opportunities.
AFS Intercultural Programs AFS is a worldwide, nonprofit organization that has been a leader in intercultural learning since 1947. Nearly 13,000 individuals each year travel through our 55 partner organizations. AFS maintains an alumni network of more than 400,000 individuals around the world and is supported by close to 45,000 AFS Volunteers worldwide.
AFS USA works toward a more just and
AFS CHINA has been operating for 31 years.
peaceful world by providing international
Authorized by the Chinese Ministry of Education,
and intercultural learning experiences to
administrated by the China Education Association
individuals, families, schools and communities
for International Exchange (CEAIE), AFS CHINA
through a global volunteer partnership.
provides intercultural learning opportunities
AFS-USA (formerly the American Field Service) is a leader in intercultural learning and offers international exchange programs in the United States and around the world through their global network of AFS Organizations, volunteers and professional staff.
for high school students and teachers as well as college undergraduates both in China and around the globe. AFS CHINA offers various programs including school-based, teaching assistantships, summer camp, educator exchange, and community service projects, for one year, a semester or short-term exchanges. Program
Founded in 1947, they’ve been exchanging
participants live with Chinese host families, or in
students throughout the world for more
the school dormitories, depending on the program.
than six decades. AFS USA has history and experience in international education with an exemplary record of safety, security and service to students, parents and educators.
AFS CHINA has established cooperation with more than 40 countries all over the world and approximately 5,000 individuals have participated in exchange programs with AFS CHINA.
Academic Excellence
AFS USA AFS-USA has identified a number of well-established and reputable community colleges with which to partner in various locations in the US. The locations offer an easy transition from English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to academic classes towards an Associate’s degree, have viable public transportation access and excellent participant support. Locations for programs in the second half of 2014 include Columbia, MD, Alexandria, VA, Portland, OR, and near Albany, NY. Students take 12 credits (for the published fee), and they may be able to enroll in additional credits for an additional fee. This program can be seen as a gateway to a transfer to a prestigious university.
AFS CHINA Students are eligible to receive 12-15 credits for semester programs and 8-10 credits for short programs with all credits coming from institutions approved by the Academic Degree’s Committee of the State Council (ADCSC), an officially authorized institution that accredits post-secondary academic degrees in China. Hosting universities for international students and scholars are approved by the China Scholarship Council and have a partnership with colleges and universities overseas for joint research, faculty and student mobility. The partner universities selected for the UniversitiesAbroad.org programs are leading universities that are eligible to grant full academic degrees approved by the ADCSC.
IES ABROAD Students studying with IES Abroad may receive a transcript showing grades for coursework taken through IES Abroad. They can also receive academic credit through IES Abroad’s School of Record, the University of Rochester. IES Abroad has modeled its international Centers in the tradition of American liberal arts, with small class sizes (average of 11 students) and more than 1,200 unique courses taught by local professors and global experts. Students study across a broad range of disciplines from art history and psychology to economics and urban studies. Depending on language abilities, students can enroll in intensive language courses or have the opportunity to directly enroll in courses taught at local partner universities. IES Abroad is a not-for-profit academic consortium comprising of more than 200 leading US colleges and universities.
Educational Value
Why study with us?
defined by employers as the ability to understand
Contrary to popular belief, intercultural skills
different cultural contexts and viewpoints, working
are not something that can be acquired by
effectively in diverse teams, demonstrating respect
simply traveling. Just living, studying, or working
for others, and accepting difference in cultural
abroad does not in and of itself guarantee global
contexts, viewpoints, and new ways of thinking.
“competence.” At the same time, skills associated with intercultural cooperation and effective communication are an essential part of not only success, but even survival, in today’s world.
More than study abroad: Enhanced intercultural education While these valuable skills are not magically
UniversitiesAbroad.org programs offer both
transferred upon students through simple
an immersive study abroad experience and
immersion (as many study abroad providers may
an enhanced intercultural learning curriculum
claim), immersion is a powerful first step towards
designed to help students develop critical cultural
transformative learning. Our UniversitiesAbroad.
intelligence abilities that will last a lifetime.
org programs provide the crucial next step, offering a unique integrated Intercultural Learning
Employer-valued skills The 2011 QS Global Employer
Survey1
(ICL) curriculum that sets us—and you—apart by of more
preparing our participants to live, work and lead in
than 10,000 HR recruiters concluded that
global society.
irrespective of where a student is located,
Born from 60+ years of experience, our concrete
international education enhances employability.
approach to competency-building has been
Globally, employers today highly value and
specially designed to supplement experiential
actively recruit people with international study
learning. Through structured reflection,
experience and foreign language skills.
interpersonal growth and intercultural competence
Studying abroad has become the standard for
are maximized. Alumni from our programs return
people looking to set themselves apart from their
with the training in the intercultural skills so
peers. Employers perceive a strong connection
highly sought after by employers and a greater
between study abroad and desirable intercultural
understanding of themselves.
skills. According to a 2013 report by the British Council2 of over 350 large employers, study abroad is among the top recommendations by employers in many countries for developing a global workforce. This same report found that highly valued “intercultural skills” were
1 http://content.qs.com/qs/qs-global-employer-survey-2011.pdf 2 http://www.britishcouncil.org/culture-at-work-research_march_2013.pdf
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