Last year 238 students studied off-campus in the spring only (this number does not include full year off-campus students) and 121 students were off-campus in the fall reported Eliza Camire, Associate Director of Programs & Outreach, Off Campus Study & Exchange (OCSE). To help address this imbalance Skidmore launched a fall into study abroad campaign with the goal of encouraging more students to consider spending their fall semester off-campus. As a part of the campaign Skidmore was offering 1,600 dollars to all students who choose to study off-campus this fall.
Camire said that the goal of the campaign was met as “we increased the number of students abroad this fall and hopefully planted the seed for others that there are benefits for deciding to go off-campus during the fall.” This fall 144 students are studying off-campus. This is 23 more students than were studying off-campus at this time last year.
OCSE surveyed all the students who choose to study off-campus this fall, and learned that most students were already planning on going in the fall. 25% of the students (36 students) currently studying off-campus were though swayed from the spring to the fall. 27 (75%) of these students said that the stipend influenced this decision.
It is currently unknown if the stipend will be offered again, but Camire said “all other benefits of
spending the fall semester off-campus still hold true” even if the stipend is not offered again. Benefits for studying abroad in the fall include more flexibility for extending application deadlines, more time for students to complete pre-departure items as they can do it over the summer instead of rushing to do it while the semester is wrapping up and less competition for courses and housing registration on campus when they return for the spring semester.
OCSE will continue to work with students to help them find the semester that makes the most sense for them to study off-campus. Even though OCSE would love to balance out the numbers and have more students consider studying off-campus in the fall their “ultimate goal is that students are choosing the program and semester that works best for their academic goals, both abroad and at Skidmore” said Camire.