Since the early 1960s when Dartmouth created the first foreign-study opportunities for undergraduates, spending a term abroad has become a part of nearly every D-Plan - roughly 60 percent of Dartmouth students will spend at least one term abroad before they graduate. At nearly all of America's top colleges and universities, spending a term in Europe or even Asia is highly encouraged, and it certainly does not raise eyebrows the way it might have in our parents' generation.
Despite being well-established, foreign study experiences continue to evolve. The latest trend has seen American universities putting their names on undergraduate campuses overseas, illuminating two realities about American higher education: Undergraduate degrees are increasingly treated as exportable goods or even commodities; and American educational institutions, like American corporations, are increasingly interested in entering new markets and extending their franchise to foreign shores. As stateside applicant pools continue to grow through next year, overseas splinter campuses are, for now, highly speculative.
At the College, foreign study remains focused purely on students' academic and cultural enlightenment. Dartmouth's FSPs and LSAs provides the chance for students to exist in a community forged purely from shared academic interest -- unlike Greek organizations, clubs and the other social groups that define social existence on campus.
Given the wide spectrum of available opportunities and involved application process, foreign study opportunities require students to grab their education by the horns and make difficult choices that will shape their College experience. Intellectual curiosity and, yes, the desire to see and understand more about our world drive these decisions, but isn't that precisely what should fuel all undergraduate decision-making?
Sending the College's own professors abroad with students ensures that the Dartmouth education maintains its usual rigor within a foreign context. Some students even cite FSP and LSA experiences as their most challenging terms academically, in stark contrast to the foreign binges and lax academic terms that are reputed to dominate American study-abroad experience at other schools.
Foreign study will inevitably continue to evolve for coming generations of American students, and Dartmouth's FSPs and LSAs are no exception. Dartmouth will never be able to erase the logistical nightmares implicit in sending a dozen-plus students abroad for ten weeks or, for that matter, overcome the financial limitations that come with such opportunities. Dartmouth will continue, however, to ensure that foreign study is purely about intellectual curiosity and academic growth. In fact, the only investment that should be considered in Dartmouth foreign study programs is and should continue to be the investment that the College is making in the academic development of its students.
