African American taking advantage of International Study

For many African-American college students, going to a foreign country is a far-away dream instead of a priority, making students who do study overseas a minority within a minority.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, African-Americans are more than 12 percent of U.S. higher education enrollment. These figures go against the rapid growth in study abroad participation overall. Students going abroad have more than doubled since the mid-1990s. Less than 90,000 students took part during the 1995-1996 school year. By 2005-2006, more than 220,000 students were getting their passports stamped.

“One of our challenges is that because statistically students of color are from lower economic backgrounds, we have trouble with the study abroad hump. Study abroad is always perceived as an add-on to education, which, in this globalizing world, I think we do our students a disservice by not building it more thoroughly into our curriculum.” said Joseph Kinsella, associate vice president of international programs at DePaul University on Chicago's North Side.

Similar efforts are in place at UIC(another university in Chicago), where low numbers for African-Americans enrolled in study abroad contrast with a higher than average enrollment of total minorities.

Kinsella said what students fail to realize is “As students return from abroad they tend to be the best sources of information for their peers,” Kinsella explained. “Focused outreach by the study abroad office has also helped students move beyond some of the preconceptions they might have about studying abroad: ‘It’s not for me. I can’t afford it. I don’t know a foreign language.’” Kinsella added peers tend to dispell myths, encourage other students, and become the best advocate for study abroad.