The world is becoming more interdependent and the ultimate educational value to students pursuing at least some portion of their undergraduate or graduate study living and learning in another country is no longer debatable. We now live in a global society in which knowledge, resources, and authority exceed regional and national boundaries. The knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes it takes to understand and prevail in such a society can be best achieved by living and learning through direct experience in a culture beyond one’s own.

Global competence gained by studying abroad is not only important to prepare students for the world they will be entering after college, but it is also crucial to American national and international interests. Study abroad enriches and diversifies undergraduate and graduate education by offering courses, programs, and academic learning of a sort not always possible on the home campus. It provides U.S. students with a global outlook, which emphasizes the contemporary interrelatedness of nations and cultures, the universality of human values, and the necessity for working together.

Study abroad enhances career preparation by teaching cross-cultural and workplace skills of value to today’s employers, often through internships and other hands-on experiences. It deepens intellectual and personal maturity, fosters critical thinking and builds self-confidence.  Students who live and study abroad undergo tremendous personal and intellectual growth impossible to attain by staying in their home campus. Adelphi has opened the world to its students with approved study abroad destinations in many countries on every continent, except Antarctica.

Adelphi University is committed to include an international dimension in its teaching, research, and service functions. It will accomplish this goal by making available study and volunteer abroad opportunities to all undergraduate and graduate students, by diversifying and enriching the campus culture with a greater number of international students, by expanding its cooperation and exchange agreements with selected institutions around the world, and by encouraging international faculty development.

Kraig Walkup
Director, Center for International Education