UGA was ranked 15th among all U.S. institutions in the 2013 Open Doors report on the number of U.S. students studying abroad. UGA had 1,991 students who studied abroad for academic credit in the 2011-2012 academic year.
Open Doors is an annual report on international educational exchange provided by the Institute of International Education and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The majority of UGA students participate in one or more of the approximately 100 faculty-led programs around the world, including programs at UGA’s year-round residential centers in Oxford, England; Cortona, Italy; and in the Monteverde region of Costa Rica.
Others enroll in semester or year-round exchanges at one of UGA’s 50 exchange partners abroad or join external programs. Besides the traditional classroom-based programs, study-abroad opportunities also include service-learning, lecture, fieldwork, internships and laboratory experiences.
“UGA’s continuing success and leadership in these rankings is a testament to the strong support that students here receive for study abroad-from faculty, advisers and a flexible financial aid structure,” said Kasee Laster, director of education abroad.
For many years, Western Europe and Latin America have been the most popular destinations for UGA students. The fastest growing areas, however, are Asia and Australia, according to Laster.
Each of UGA’s 17 colleges and schools sends students abroad. The majority of them travel while pursuing degrees from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, but the Terry College of Business, the School of Public and International Affairs and the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication also send more than 200 students abroad annually. Professional and graduate students account for more than 10 percent of all UGA study-abroad participants, and the area has shown considerable growth.