This is great. If there’s one thing Americans need it’s a bigger world view and this is a way to help start that early.

But, even old farts (like me) need to travel outside the US on a regular basis so we don’t get stuck in our local perspective.

One piece of the resistance to this that younger people may not feel as much as older travelers is fear of terrorism and the liability of being an American abroad after eight years of Bush and American unpopularity outside the US.

Keep up the good work Frosts, this is important.

Great idea if you speak the language of the country that you want to go to and want to get more experience or learn that language, and the culture.

Some things that all students should understand however, if you get arrested for anything in another country your on your own. The extreme case is that young woman in Italy, who is now facing many years behind bars.

It would good if these realities of going abroad could be discussed as it seems that a lot Americans seem to think that the laws don’t apply to them when abroad. For instance in the picture above the young woman is in Egypt. One thing you do not want to get caught doing there is drinking in public or being drunk. The other, stay out their politics.

Maya, right on. You’re exactly right about doing it early while the brain is still plastic and kids are not stuck in ruts. And, it’s not like the rest of the world isn’t connected; going abroad doesn’t have to be going into a developing country although it can.

This is great.

I studied abroad my junior year of high school and it changed my life. I was also able to study for and take the SATs abroad, as well as search for a college. I studied with AFS and it was by far the best year of my life.

Since then, I studied abroad in undergrad and graduate school, but my high school experience was the most formative. During my time with AFS I was immersed in the language unlike any other time I spent in Europe.

I would absolutely recommend that any high school student study abroad with AFS.

This sounds great! I wish I would have taken this path during my college years — what a great way to develop confidence, independence and maturity.

After negotiation and pushing my college adviser he agreed to give me some credit for going to Brazil for a semester and volunteering with 5 other people, who happened to be women. Our group was from the US, Japan, Jordan and Estonia, an amazing experience.

I am a professor at a small New England college, and I cannot agree more with the guests today on the benefits of studying abroad for American school kids. I teach a lot of first year students, and what they lack most is intellectual maturity – an awareness of a world larger than themselves and their limited experiences. Living abroad provides a student with more experiences, but it also does more than that. It shows a young person that there is a wealth of experience beyond what they themselves CAN have. By really encountering otherness, a young person’s mind can be opened to understand everything – the familiar and the new. The largest hurdle I face with my students is convincing them that an idea or interpretation outside their own small, blinkered world can exist, let alone have some validity.

Could the Frosts please list how college bound students “find” colleges and universities that place a high value on high school based experiential programs? Perhaps even list a few examples?
Thanks very much!

Thank you very much for addressing this important topic—
We lived in the U.K. for 4 years and my children learned so much from that experience.
My daughter is interested in going abroad for college and is a Junior in high school here in the U.S. She is very anxious about the whole college admissions process here.
Looking forward to reading this book!

The money issue brought up by the gentleman who called from Detroit is sort of a red herring. It’s not a money issue (as Maya said), it’s an imagination issue.

Sorry Mrs. Frost but this whole thing is about upper middle class families sending their children abroad.

Nothing wrong with this in the abstract, but the timing of this is a not very sensitive to the realities that a huge amount of Americans are facing right now.

Bottom line this is a book tour show, they are trying to sell books.

Great topic & it’s refreshing to hear from parents who think it’s beneficial to have a global education.

It’s important for young people to know that the world is their oyster from the time they can move around instead of on graduation day.

This sounds great. As a mom of young kids though I wonder what grades will be required to take advantage of this opportunity. Is it only available for top performers?

Hi Tom, This is a great topic. I was part of a family legacy of Rotary exchange students. My mother spent a year in Sweden and I followed in her footsteps by spending a year in Germany when I was 18. I highly encourage people to take part in the Rotary program, though I would suggest people choose programs carefully because not all of them have the strong support network that Rotary offers. I take slight exception; however, to your guest’s claims of a year abroad being cheaper. The question is: cheaper for whom? Perhaps my own family incurred fewer expenses during the year I was abroad, but there is no doubt that my host families spent their own hard-earned money on my living expenses as well as travel expenses. I was invited on family vacations and was offered many opportunities from my generous host families that I’m sure they were never reimbursed for. I think that most Rotary members have the goodwill to offer this kind of care without an expectation of repayment – I could never have repayed them in any case. But on a large scale, it would be foolhardy to expect to send vast numbers of US students abroad on someone else’s dollar.

I studied abroad in college and thought it was the best experience I ever had. I studied Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins and was the first person from my department ever to study abroad. It took a lot of work on my part to make it happen but it was well worth it. I would encourage students to start early and find the people in your universities who will support you and ignore the ones who tell you not to go.

But, I would just like to point out that there are some things to consider as far as transferring your credits back to America. For example, if one wants to pursue Medical School in America, the MCAS will not accept transcripts from foreign universities for your time abroad, so you would need to stay enrolled via an American University. The same may be true for law school (I am not sure). This is less of a problem for other graduate studies.

I went abroad on a Rotary program when I was 15. It changed my life. I want my kids to be internationally focused as early as possible.

Last summer we looked into how to extend a necessary trip to Europe into a summer adventure. My children, then 10, 9, and 4, and I ultimately spent 7 weeks in Russia on a “service vacation” at a Russian foster care community called the Kitezh Children’s Community. It was the experience of a lifetime and much more reasonable than returning to the US for the balance of the summer.

If I had been unable to find a volunteer opportunity that would take such young children (it was a challenge!), I found many wonderful international summer camps as a back up that were as reasonable, if not more reasonable, than I would have spent to send my kids to camp here in America.

With some research and planning, kids of any age can be introduced to international experiences. My kids know they will be expected to take a year abroad in high school, and/or a “gap year” for more international adventures.

Absolutely awesome. This is such a great idea. We Americans tend to be insulated from the world. Learning other cultures and languages would be a tremendous benefit to the individual and to the US. All those foreign students that used to come to OUR universities certainly took home an understanding of how our culture functions (or not as the case may be). And because they understood us they were in a better position to do business with us and, in some cases, to beat us at our own games. The US needs to encourage our young people to see how we fit into and compete with the rest of the world.

@Putney Swope: we’ll have to agree to disagree. I think these ideas are exactly what families struggling to figure out how to send their kids to US colleges need to hear, no matter what kind of money they have.

These folks are offering alternatives and not just for upper middle class families.

The only thing upper middle class about this is the possible idea that more folks who have those kinds of resources have travelled and might value the experience of going to school outside the US. In that way, it’s a failure of the imaginations of folks who are intimidated by the idea and using cost as a way to hide it.

Like one of your callers, my daughter also got accepted to the United World College. She will attend the US campus in New Mexico, joining 200 students from 84 countries. We are *thrilled* and amazed that an opportunity such as this exists. My daughter also spent part of her sophomore year in Uganda. To see the world from other than an American and Western point of view is not simply valuable for her personally, but essential to us as a society.

I think the gloabl experience definitely tops staying at home. It shows that you are able and willing to step outside of your comfort zone and try something different.

I believe that beign open-minded, versatile, and global adds much more to an individual than having great gades in high school and college.

The world we live in is rapidly getting smaller and being able to adapt in those situations is both crucial professionally and personally.

A good friend of mine attended the United World College and from all the stories I have heard, it was a great education and an experience of a life time. You study with people from all over the world with a lot of hands on courses.

It is a great idea to study abroad both for the perspective and the experience.

I was raised in Africa and having lived in the USA for the last 10 years, I’m amaized how little Americans know in regards to other countries…..may be these foreign programs would help in enlighting young Americans.
thanks

Great idea — but what about kids who havea learning disability, add, and/or are on medication . . . should we as parents still try to overcome our overprotectiveness?

I was listening and keying in. I have four grown children who were all students abroad – on to Taiwan, two to Japan, and one to Denmark.

I just graduated in May from a Rhode Island University. What are my options for going aboard?

Our famuly has hosted several high school exchange students from other countries, but we are always surprised at how few US students seem to take up this opportunity despite scholarship funds being available.
It has been a wonderful experience for us, getting to know some wonderful young people, and seeing the benefits for them of living abroad.

Great program. Check out http://www.journeycn.com for my son’s summer program in the beautiful coastal town of Qingdao. He obtained his undergraduate degree in the USA, but studied in the Netherlands with his college, then on his own post graduate in Qingdao, China. He lives their now and runs an English language school and exchange programs. This program is reasonably priced. Gil Caldwell

I lived in France and Germany with my parents at age 12, then did a summer exchange program to Belgium when I was 15. I studied in the Soviet Union for a summer at age 19, for a semester at age 21, and for a year in grad school at age 23. After graduate school I worked in Russia for 5 years in the 1990s, including working for a Russian company. All of this was great. The hard part was fitting back into American society when I moved back to settle down and start a family at age 34. I soon realized that most of my friends were far away at a time when I could have used a closer network. I wouldn’t give up the foreign experiences for anything though.

Another approach that moves students in this direction is to take advantage of high school summer abroad programs. My son, ready to leave summer camp behind, spent post-freshman year summer in Ecuador doing community service, building a museum and teaching English to young children in the Andes. The summer before his junior year found him in China, living at a Beijing university, studying the Chinese economy and art and traveling. Post-junior year, he worked in Boston’s inner city, surely another world for most suburban teens. All this made him attractive to the college he will attend, which selected him to start his freshman year studying in Great Britain. He’s becoming an internationalist by building experience upon experience without missing the joys (and trials) of high school at home. He’s worldly, independent, tolerant and thinking international relations as a major.

The abroad programs cost less than summer camp and the experience so much more enlightening and, likely, life-shaping.

The International School of Boston, right here in Cambridge (PreK-12)is a totally bilingual program all the way through, and offers both the IB and the French Bac. 1/3 of the school is French, 1/3 American, and 1/3 other nationalities. We are a totally American family, and yet my daughter, now finshing 6th grade, is bilingual and takes Geometry, Spanish, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and History/Geography IN FRENCH. SHe takes Algebra, History, English, Music, Art, Technology, and Social Studies IN ENGLISH. It is an amazing opportunity for an international experience right here in the US>

While high school student earns points in the competitive process of gaining entry to top colleges and universities, the deeper benefit of high school study abroad is instilling in the student an ability to be comfortable beyond their comfort zone and to see the world through differnt eyes. Cultural immersion, fluency in a foreign language, truly understanding another way of being evolves into a solid starting point for global understanding on a much deeper, experiential level.

My daughter recently graduated from high school after an exstremely stressful senior year. She has made a very mature decision to take a gap year before starting college. She has been accepted to Amherst College and they are very supportive of gap year students & are holding her space & fifnancial aid for 2010.
My question is if there any international programs for internships or apprenticeships that have scholarships that she can take advantage of during this year.

“No one has a bad experience?” I’ve worked with hundreds of study abroad students. Almost all would do it again, and most say it is the best experience they have had.

There are negatives–people get sick, a few have had psychological issues that got worse overseas. Even then, most are glad they did it. Very rarely, a student will be expelled from a program, arrested, or even die. Then again, that happens in the U.S. too.

I just graduated in May. I am was wondering what my options are for “going global” if someone could email me some options. nsouza87@gmail.com

I’m surprised at the rate of comments for a topic that I thought would have a very small appeal.

It may be that many On Point listeners have direct or secondary experience with study abroad.

Richard, some people have no excuse for lacking imagination but, poverty can really squelch imagination.

Margaret Desjardins – I just checked the tuition rates on the International School of Boston – it would cost me 18K per year to send my 6th grade son. I have two children. My income is around 30K per year. I’d love to send my children to such a nice school, but look at the math. Financial aid is limited at this school. So you see, this does seem to be the privilege of the upper classes.

@frederic C: Of course. I agree. Poverty might also prevent a family from sending or even considering sending their child to an American college or university.

However, as the Frosts said many times, if there were a cheaper alternative overseas then at least one of the obstacles is imagining that as an alternative.

It’s not just people who don’t have the means who lack imagination, many Americans who have the means lack the imagination to see how this might be useful for their kids.

I’m beginning to think that how much a parent has travelled outside of the US and the types of experiences they had doing that travel might also be part of the problem. If someone hasn’t ever been out of the country it’s not an easy sell to convince them that it’s a good thing. And, like it or not, travel definitely overlaps with education and resources: more educated people with at least some resources no doubt travel more and so, might be more likely to see this as a good thing for their kids.

I’m not attempting to say its right for everyone but as someone who did not do this as a student but logged a lot of miles abroad for business I can say from my experience travel opened me up and because of this I think it’s something to consider for many American families.

Interesting program this morning.
While no one will deny the importance of broadening one’s education ,and obviously traveling and living abroad is one of the best ways to achieve that, might I suggest an easy first step in educating young American global citizens:Improve language study and introduce Geography into the US education curriculum, in both private and public schools.
As an Irish born mother of 3 grown girls, educated both in Ireland and in the US and as an independent education consultant helping to guide US high school students into colleges, I have a lot of experience of both European and US education. Why do so many foreign students want to study in the US? Very simply: US universities and colleges are way superior. That is why my own children all attended US colleges, partly on scholarships.Yes there are some exceptions for specific programs …EG St Andrew’s Scotland for international relations.
I have just worked on transfer applications with a US freshman college student who spent her first year at an English top ranked university. She found it fun in that it alowed her to socialize in London night clubs but it was a very demoralising academic experience with no access to professors. She will be transferring back to college in the US.
While I admire and laud your speakers today, it sounds as if their childrens’ education became their main job. Let’s be realistic… this is not an option for the average family.
One other point: The Davis Scholars program through United World Schools ( mentioned by a caller)is open only to the most exceptional students….one of my students just graduated from the program in Trieste Italy.She is an academic star.

I also disagree with Putney. San Francisco State University has more than fifty percent of its study abroad participants going abroad for a year from under-represented groups. The danger in Putney’s point of view is that she would offer less to those groups because of her perception about what they may want. We provide information to parents to explain the value which alleviates many of the concerns they may have.

I put myself through a masters program at a predominant University in Australia. Having studied abroad multiple times during my undergraduate degree I thought it would be great to complete a Masters of International Politics at a US Dept. of Education accredited university overseas. My thought was that it would help me in my field to have a wider global perspective by attending a university with a large international population. Regarding the gaining of a very different pespective on international politics, this assessment was correct. Additionally, the cost of education was much more inexpensive then in the US. However, upon returning to the US I believe that completing my masters overseas actually hurt me. In almost every job interview I had, one of the first questions I encountered was “why did you complete your degree outside the US?” and this wasn’t typically stated in a positive way. My answer was the reasons I mentioned above but I can’t get past the fact that I really think this has held me back in getting jobs. Additionally, if someone studies in the US they have the ability to network much more and intern in their field, particularly at a place they may wish to work in the future. I’m still all for studying abroad and in many cases completing degrees overseas, but students need to really contemplate what they would like to be doing after college and what would be the best way to achieve this goal. Going overseas for their degree may or may not be the way to go.

I’m a guy… I am not saying people should not go abroad.
People who post here from colleges and universities, such as Van who is trying to promote his or her program are misleading students and parents in my view. They have a vested interest in spinning this to sound like it’s the best thing since Swiss cheese. I would think it depends on what one wants to do and what the motives are.
If you go abroad and end parting all the time, well that’s a waste of time and if you get arrested in a country like Italy, you can end up in a heap of trouble.
In Italy your guilt until you can prove your innocent.

My advice, and I spent 8 years living abroad, is to do your homework and make sure you understand the laws, and the health care issues, you will need private insurance if your a student if the school does not cover you overseas.

Again this program was for a book promotion and these people are upper middle class. How many people can afford to sell everything an just move to Argentina.

To the caller from Detroit. Get out. Would you live in a desert if there were no food or water, and no prospects of any anytime soon ? Self preservation should be driving you. You can go back and visit anytime. There is nothing sentimental about living in a dying rust belt city.

imagine KURT COBAIN [dead at 27] when he was 14 or 15 going to UK , AUSTRALIA or N.W. EUROPE, where English LEFT-HANDERS and blue eyes are normal, esteemed! and cherished. suicide is often a cultural failure [STATISTICAL NORMS]. CULTURE! invisible but TOXIC.
“To move” is technically known as a-”GEOGRAPHIC” and needs deepest cultural [alien] consideration. A.N.N.Y.T. to find the critical “prime cases”. FOR AMERICA!

My daughter is going to grad school at University of Wisconsin, Madison after being turned down at UCLA. It is an excellent school as she knows after doing her undergrad there. She went to Madison out of high school after being accepted to Howard University, but just could not turn down the in state tuition. She also applied for school in South Africa but that also had problems. Now you see the problem. As wonder as school Madison is, she was born here and keeps trying to get a broader experience but this seems to always be the best option that presents.

I wish we had known about this at earlier. Are there opportunities for graduate students?

Love her close – wish she were far away.

I took my SAT’s in Hamburg, Germany in 1983 and my LSAT’s in Hong Kong in 1989. Borders don’t seem to stop standardized testing.

Great topic! I’m a huge supporter of living/studying abroad. I lived in Germany several times during high school and also studied abroad there during college. It changed my life. I have also been studying Japanese for 6 years and plan to get my MBA in Tokyo for about 10% of what it would cost at a US school. I’d recommend a study abroad to anyone! Don’t let your fear of the unknown scare you away – all great experiences in life first require a leap of faith.

When a family has a low income it may not be possible for them to take advantage of bargains, no matter how good they are. Recently,I’ve heard of students having to leave public colleges because one or both of their parents have lost their jobs. When my twin sister and I applied to college our aunt wasn’t required to provide any support because her income was so low. We were able to go to very selective colleges with scholarships. But our aunt couldn’t have afforded to send us to much less expensive in-state schools either. A bargain isn’t a bargain if you don’t have the money to pay for it.

I think it’s great for people to go overseas to study for part of their college career. Just a word of caution about getting a degree there: there are many people whose degrees from other countries don’t count here. I have a friend who was a dentist in Poland and her education is worthless here.

Hi Tom,

My question is why is education so expensive in US. In A developing nation like India the education is so subsidiced to the level of 10 $ / year in college – arts like degrees. And 200 – 300 $ / year for professional colleges.

Are the education standard so bad / second class – No way the excellent Indian Doctors in US studied the subsidiced education and are on equal level to the American counterpart.

It is already so difficult to study in this enviornment with so many distraction and when you finish school with so much difficulty why make it even so difficult to go to college by forcing the students to get loan. Shouldn’t going to college be going from 8 th Std to 9th Standard.

Which is more important being the first to advance is space / educating your kid.

Which is more important – Finding man in some remote plannet / paying for you childrens college – the Government should have clear choice in mind. When a developing nation can know how to educate its children why not the developed nation. Should not you take care of your own kids before taking care of your neighbour’s kids.

If you dont know call the finance minister of India to find out how they subcidice education in India.

There should be government run colleges with subsidiced fees that students can afford.

To cut the cost you can have online lectures – conferences when you can attend and view from a local college. That way you can reduce the cost of Teaching.

The law makers should not have the attitude – we went to college by taking loans and through very much difficulty so you also go through that -

Instead it should be we went through so much difficulty we dont want you to go through and that we will make sure it is easy and affordable for the next generation.

Both high school and college experiences abroad have value, and having seen my own children (and myself) go through them, I want to suggest to parents that one of the key advantages of the high school experience that an organization like Youth For Understanding offers is that it is based on a family living experience. Your child will have parents along with all the advice, encouragement, guidance and love that they offer. As a high school age child, they are much more likely to be truly wrapped into the family structure than an independent college student would be. Most college students at study abroad centers spend much more time associating with other Americans and are less likely to assimilate than a high school student in a local school and family, to which they have accountability as a family member.

We started hosting Youth For Understanding exchange students when the oldest of our four children was in fifth grade. Our children were able to learn from their successes and challenges. Many families seem to wait until their own children are in high school to have this experience, but our children were much more accepting and tolerant the younger they were. Having brothers and sisters on three other continents made them citizens of the world before they left our home and prepared them to do so. When they did become old enough to consider study abroad, they were ready for the responsibilities and challenges they would face.

There are many scholarships available for high school study abroad (look at the Congress-Bundestag scholarships to Germany or the ones from Youth For Understanding to name a couple), and it is remarkable that relatively few students try for some of them. Our investment in our daughter’s high school year in Finland paid off in terms of the college scholarship she later received plus very desirable internships she later received in foreign countries—because she had proven you could drop her in another country and she could learn the language and function in a new environment. At the same time, we saved some expenses we would have incurred at her American high school: pay-to-play sports, the cost of the car and transportation costs we would have provided that year, school trips, etc.

Working with the non-profit programs that provide a lot of local country support is probably the best way to make this happen.

Fabulous show tonight. What struck me was the point about preparing students for an unpredictable world. What a brilliant notion to embrace an unpredictable world. I am inspired even though I’m neither a parent nor a college student. I’m a musician and you’ve reinforced the importance for me to seek out performance opportunities at colleges and other venues overseas. Thank you, thank you.

I have also been studying Japanese for 6 years and plan to get my MBA in Tokyo for about 10% of what it would cost at a US school. I’d recommend a study abroad to anyone! Don’t let your fear of the unknown scare you away – all great experiences in life first require a leap of faith.
–Posted by Brett

Brett I have a little surprise for you, that %10 of cost you think you will be saving will be eaten up by the cost of living in Japan. For instance a cantaloupe can cost as much as $10 per pound or more. If your going to Japan for the experience, to learn the language and culture that’s great but to do so because it costs less is foolish and you will go broke.

The more I read the comments here I can’t help but feel this is still the realm of the upper middle classes. How many high schools in South Central LA or other poor and areas have programs that send students overseas.

The Frost’ are on a book tour, this program was about selling books. It was not about them being altruistic and into “public education”.

The topic was great, but it’s frustrating that the author seemed completely unable to recognize that this is not an option financially for everyone. The fact that they say they make less than six figures COMBINED as if that means something, shows how out of touch with reality they are. Average household income (ie combined, if there’s anyone to combine with) is around 50k a year (before the recession). So saying “under six figures” tells us little other than to imply they are still well above average.

Whenever cost was brought up, they only said how much they “saved”–as in less money spent than they would have otherwise, but money spent nonetheless. Nothing was mentioned about students who rely on student loans, financial aid and scholarships. Talking about how you don’t have to spend money on soccer shoes is nonsensical to families to can’t afford to send their kids to team sport activities, much less India. Nor was anything mentioned about older students or students with family commitments.

Perhaps a future guest could be someone from the organization Class Action, (http://www.classism.org/) to help your listeners (and guests) get a little more realistic view of the world.

Hello all–Maya here.

Just wanted to clarify a few points.

My husband and I are not even CLOSE to wealthy–in fact, we earn an annual salary in the mid-five figures–TOGETHER. We did sell everything, but we had a modest 1800 square foot home so it’s not as though we made out like bandits on that–though we did sell at a good time (2005) compared to now.

One of the reasons we wanted to go abroad was because we knew we could save money each month while earning the same salary and having a better lifestyle. The challenge wasn’t money–it was how to make our small company virtual. We did that despite the fact that it’s a business that sells products and requires shipping, inventory, sales, etc.

And although it is true that most students who go abroad are white and upper middle class, we’re trying to change that by sharing information about how to do it safely and inexpensively. ANY family can contact their local Rotary Club and see about sending their student abroad for a year during or right after high school, and in most cases, that year abroad will cost much LESS than the year in the United States, where it is expensive to pay for even the basics for high school students attending a public school, as our kids did. Really–do the math and see how the school activities, sports, parties, clothes, cell phones, car insurance, prom dresses, and lessons add up. Now, compare it to a year abroad for less than $3,000.

Also, the Rotary Youth Exchange program is going strong, contrary to one post here. However, the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships for master’s degree programs has been discontinued.

And yes, the book has a whole chapter on how to stay safe abroad by avoiding the American bubble and being aware of one’s surroundings. Those who get into trouble abroad tend to be those who are drunk, hanging out in tourist areas where they are easy targets, or engaging in behavior that is illegal (even in the US).

There are many wonderful and AFFORDABLE opportunities to study abroad and lack of money is not an obstacle–but lack of information/imagination is. Get informed, picture the possibilities, and go discover the world for yourself. (And yes, read the book if you choose–it has valuable info and inspiring stories.)

“Really–do the math and see how the school activities, sports, parties, clothes, cell phones, car insurance, prom dresses, and lessons add up.”

If you took the approach that, “many more middle-class families can do this than they might realize, it’s not just for the wealthy” I could respect that. But “everyone can” attitude is condescending, and hurtful. I just think you would get more positive feedback if you softened your tone a bit.

I’ll give you the math (per kid): $250 on clothes I put on my credit card, no cell phone, free lessons through a program called freeschool, and $250/yr on baseball supplies and fees that some years we can afford some years we can’t. Right now if our oldest was of age, we couldn’t afford car insurance for him. Less than $100/mo on food. Parties about $100/year, although we’ve gone without those too in lean times. Our district has a program to provide prom dresses for students who can’t afford them because this is exactly the kind of thing that families CAN’T add up.

Yet I feel we’re close to a range where we could afford it, but barely, only because our income has increased over the years and I expect it to in the future. Many of my friends couldn’t afford this. Some depend on the money their children’s jobs bring in.

As for moving… we’re lucky that we bought our house a while ago and aren’t upside down like a lot of people, but we have elderly family members in the area we look after. Most people of lower socio-economic status also depend on a social network of friends for car-repair, home-repair, babysitting, transportation, small loans of money and tools etc. that their day-to-day living depends on.

Edward Rao from what I understand you can’t practice medicine in this country with a medical degree from a lot of foreign countries. So if one wanted to be a doctor here in the US are you not wasting your time getting a degree abroad?

I run a global business. I only hire people who have been exposed to other cultures and are bilingual. They bring something to the table that American students cannot.

I want to believe that “going abroad” can be transformative and life-changing for young people, but what I see is that for many young Americans the experience, whether at an international university or on a backpacking “gap year,” is ultimately about leisure and not learning.

Young Americans abroad, like their adult counterparts, tend to “experience” another country from the confines of safe enclaves set up to absorb them. You see them all over the world together, in cafes in Barcelona speaking in loud English about their day trips on weekends, in cheap, Indian hotels bragging about how little they paid for things, in the red light district of Tehran already drunk in the early evening. So often, “going abroad” is about taking advantage of different economic structures, as the authors also recommend.

This was brought home to me recently while listening to a colleague who quite frequently in our work together referenced her year abroad in Spain. On one occasion, she described her single experience in “Africa” – with great authority, of course, since she had been there. On her overnight excursion to Tangier, she was met with men whom she described as continually making advances on her. She described learning from an American couple that Tangier was the site of kidnappings of white tourists for the rumored, underground “sex trade”. She was completely ignorant of her own orientalism, and will continue to perpetuate this perception of “Africa” for the rest of her life.

It’s true that Americans can benefit from traveling, and I believe that some callers genuinely benefitted personally and probably professionally from their global experiences. Living abroad is not a magic wand, however, to change ignorant cultural attitudes, the way that it is often portrayed. An American abroad can still be an American, especially since so much of the world knocks itself out to accomodate us and our dollars.

I think some middle-class Americans may be better off wandering around Newark or Detroit for a week than leaving the country. Such an experience may alter perspective more than a beer-soaked year in Europe.

I wish I had heard about this before I went to college. I always thought the expense would be too much, never even considered it.

Now I’m living in a foreign country, but I wish I could have started sooner!