"What nations don’t know can hurt them.
The stakes involved in study abroad are that simple,
that straightforward, and that important.
For their own future and that of the nation,
college graduates today must be
internationally competent."

The report of the Abraham LIncoln Study Abroad Fellowship Commission.

Some of the best American colleges and universities are making major commitments
to this essential element of today’s educational experience. The University of
Minnesota has established a goal of 50 percent of all undergraduates studying abroad
within the next decade. Harvard University recently announced plans to make study
abroad a degree requirement. San Francisco State University plans to double the number
of undergraduates studying abroad by 2010. Michigan State University, with a strong
and growing program, has focused heavily on nontraditional countries. And Baltimore’s
Goucher College made national news by announcing in September 2005 that study
abroad, backed up by a $1,200 voucher from the college for travel, will become a degree
requirement for students entering in fall 2006.

The Executive Summary

Globalization and Economic Competitivenes
It is no secret to anyone that the United States is buffeted by international forces.
Our economic, military, and diplomatic challenges are global in nature. Modern technologies, communications, and transportation systems have remade manufacturing
and distribution on a global scale. American corporations understand the importance
of these issues. Increasingly, business leaders recognize that they must be able to draw
on people with global skills if their corporations are to succeed in a world in which one
American job in six is tied to international trade.
National Security
Americans remember the desperate search for speakers of Arabic, Farsi, and Pashto that
followed the national calamity of September 11, 2001. A more dramatic demonstration
of the importance of study abroad would be dif.cult to .nd. Study abroad is one of the
major means of producing foreign language speakers and enhancing foreign language
learning. In today’s world, study abroad is simply essential to the nation’s security.
More than 65 federal agencies, ranging from the Central Intelligence Agency to the
Peace Corps, need to fill 34,000 positions requiring foreign language skills annually—a
requirement that is often unmet or filled only through outside contractors.
U.S. Leadership
Many students and citizens are eager to take on the mantle of international leadership.
Yet most Americans have never been abroad, even on a vacation. Just 20 percent of
Americans hold a passport. The United States leads by necessity and default, but it is
not as well equipped to exercise its leadership role as it could be. This is not an issue
of the left or the right, of Democrats or Republicans. It is an issue of how we as a
society prepare this and future generations for the leadership that will be required for
the American democratic experiment’s ongoing success in the world.
Educational Value of Study Abroad
Study abroad is a powerful educational tool. Research shows that students who study
abroad still use a language other than English on a regular basis years after they return to
the United States. Overwhelming numbers of graduates who have studied abroad agree
that the experience enhanced their interest in academic work, helped them acquire
important career “skill sets,” and continued for decades to influence their perspective
on world events.
Parents, students, and the broader public understand the educational value of study
abroad. In one recent poll, for example, nearly 80 percent of respondents stated that the
presence of international programs on campus would positively influence the choice of
their child’s college or university.
Active Engagement in the International Community
Wise stewardship of the nation’s well-being argues for a prudent course of action: ensure
that many more undergraduates experience, study in, and communicate with other
cultures so that they can learn to “hear” what others are saying, speak with them in their
language, and continue to serve as goodwill ambassadors throughout their lives.
Wise stewardship also involves encouraging foreign students to come to the United
States for study. Maintaining access to the American campus for the students of the
world remains a significant foreign policy tool. Student exchange provides bene.ts to
host and sending nations, a point President Bush expressed clearly when he said in
2001, “We must…reaffirm our commitment to promote educational opportunities that
enable American students to study abroad, and to encourage international students to
take part in our educational system.”
To learn more or to access the commissions website : www.lincolncommission.org

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