Study Abroad is a program at Stanislaus State that helps students accomplish their dreams of studying in a different country. Studying in another country not only allows students to see different parts of the world, but also helps them learn different cultures and maybe even languages to educate themselves and change their worldview and continuously expand their field of knowledge.
The Study Abroad Information Session is a weekly event that is presented by the International Education Office, its purpose is to serve Stan State students who are interested in studying abroad by giving them more details about what they need to do and how to prepare for studying abroad
There are a variety of countries that the students can choose from to study abroad, such as Spain, Canada, Mexico and South Korea.. Before heading to these places, the first step that domestic students at Stan State would take is to attend one of the study abroad information sessions.
“The information sessions better prepared me by just giving me the breakdown of how to apply, how much the program is, how do I pick which country to study in, just everything,” said Elissa Fonseca (graduate, Psychology).
With the information students get from the session, students are able to learn more about ther options and choose the one that suits them best.
“We have a lot of study abroad options and give students directions,” said Brittany Fentress, director of the Study Abroad program.
Fentress explained that there is always an option for any student. For example, different students have different purposes when it comes to studying abroad, as some of the students just want to do it for fun while others have a specific purpose.
“I decided to study abroad in Spain because I wanted to practice my Spanish,” explained Sandra Luna (senior M.A., Public Administration). “I attended the session because my friend wanted to attend and I just followed along, but I ended up having a big interest in the program and finally decided to study abroad myself.”
Many students tend to think that studying abroad is very expensive, but this is not always the case. By attending the sessions, students are also able to get more information about the tuition and the cost of living in different countries. They would also be able to learn more about the study abroad scholarship that the International Education Office offers, which could help some students that want to study abroad but do not have enough money.
“I was worried about studying abroad being too expensive and I was worried about my budget to study abroad, but I learned that there are tons of scholarships out there,” Fonseca said.
“If you can afford to go to Stan State, you can afford to study abroad. It really depends on the program,” Fentress added.
If a student does not have enough money to go study abroad in a certain country, there are also cheaper alternative ways. For example, if students want to go to Germany to study abroad but the tuition and the cost of living is beyond budget, students can choose Czech Republic or Hungary as both countries are cheaper when it comes to tuition and cost of living. Both countries are also very close to Germany, so students would have the opportunity to travel to actually travel to Germany from there.
“My proudest moment is that when students attend the session and understand the value of it,” Fentress said.
If interested in studying abroad, register for a Study Abroad Info Sessions here: https://eie.csustan.edu/office-international-education-study-abroad-information-sessions.
