The University of Iowa has a multitude of international programs through which students can travel to 49 countries in over 200 study abroad programs. Multiple options for lengths are available, including semester-long, academic year, summer programs of varying lengths, and winter session programs.
According to the UI International Program website, students who study abroad have a 32 percent higher chance of graduating in four years compared to students who do not.
Russell Ganim, the associate provost and dean of International Programs at the UI, spoke on how during COVID-19 and for two years after, no students were sent abroad. Five years later, the university is seeing numbers similar to those before the pandemic.
“We’ll send a few students abroad during spring break. Our January programming was also very well-subscribed, so we’re happy about that. For the summer, the preliminary numbers look very good, so we are in a good situation as we move forward,” Ganim said.
Spain and Italy are the most popular countries where students choose to study abroad, with the United Kingdom following in close third. Business marketing and entrepreneurship, language and culture, journalism and mass communication, education, and public health are the most popular majors that feature this opportunity.
“We’re trying to get more students, for example, in engineering and in the STEM fields to go abroad. That’s a little bit more difficult, just because a lot of these majors have very strict requirements, and the students just don’t have the time for even a summer abroad,” Ganim said. “But we’ve been able to make some headway in that regard.”
Engineering and STEM field majors tend to choose an international internship route, which allows for professional programming in the course of study related to a student’s career. Ganim said this has become very popular for students and their parents because it can lead to a job after graduation.
Although cost can be a big barrier for students interested in studying abroad, generous donors continue to build on their gifts and have been increasing the amounts they are dispersing to students to go abroad, Ganim said.
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“There’s always more that we can do,” Ganim said. “But we feel pretty confident that we can offer a substantial amount of financial aid, additional financial aid, to a student going abroad. Now, we should also underscore that if a student is currently on financial aid, that always applies to study abroad.”
Gamin also believes studying abroad distinguishes a candidate from other applicants in a job-seeking process. He said these programs show you are adaptable, and it gives an employer something to talk to the applicant about.
Sophia Restiffe Favoretto, a graduate student at the UI, said she believes studying abroad is growing in popularity due to positive recommendations from past participants.
Favoretto studied and interned abroad in Italy. She speaks Italian fluently, which helped her get into the program and receive a scholarship. She said studying and interning abroad led her to an internship with CIMBA, a program that takes students to study abroad in Italy.
“It’s something that makes you stand out for sure, and if you’re someone that wants a career in, for example, higher education, global communication, global strategic communication, having had that experience is extremely valuable,” Favoretto said.
Jiselle Martinez, a fourth-year business management student at the UI, studied abroad in Italy during the summer of her third year.
Martinez said studying abroad led her to find more independence and learn a lot about herself. She said she made many friends who she is still in contact with despite going in without any connections.
“I really just kind of found happiness in myself,” Martinez added.