About 7 percent of Quinnipiac University students study abroad each year. In other words, nearly 430 students travel to a foreign country for a minimum of two weeks and receive academic credit.
“You can probably add an extra 120 students who go abroad in the year without meeting the criteria, with the Albert Schweitzer Institute,” said Patrick Frazier, director of international affairs. Frazier has been in charge of the study abroad office since fall 2003.
“After the University of Connecticut and Yale University, Quinnipiac has the third largest study abroad program in Connecticut,” Frazier said.
However, Quinnipiac is looking to increase the number of students who study abroad. In order to accomplish this, the Office of International Affairs is in the process of making changes to the offered programs.
One of the additions to the study abroad program is an increase in acceptable universities for students to attend. For instance, Quinnipiac health science students were limited to studying in Cork, Ireland at University College Cork (UCC) because of their strict course load. In the past, UCC had one of the only health programs comparable to the courses offered at Quinnipiac.
“Traditionally, science and health science students aren’t able to go abroad,” Frazier said. “This is one of the reasons we chose an affiliation with UCC. It allows for students to go abroad and since I started, we’ve found two other locations for health science students.”
In addition to UCC, health science students can expand their horizons to University of Queensland in Australia or Cardiff University in Wales. Quinnipiac has not yet developed an affiliation with University of Queensland or Cardiff University.
About 70 students travel to Cork each year. The affiliation with UCC however, is not as equally balanced as Frazier would like it. Many Irish students do not study abroad at Quinnipiac.
“The hardest part is that we have a lack of housing,” Frazier said. “It makes it prohibitive for students in Ireland to study abroad here.”
Students who are planning to study abroad should be aware of the tuition and fees. All students pay tuition equivalent to the price to live in the Commons; however, they pay no meal plan fee. There is also a small charge for insurance.
“We previously had a secondary insurance for students, but next year we will be moving to a primary insurance,” Frazier said. “We haven’t had many major injuries, but we decided we need more than just a medical insurance. There is now emergency insurance as well.”
Student travelers should also be aware that financial aid will be carried over. All scholarships and loans with still work toward student tuition, with the exception of work study.
Quinnipiac will also be working to help students who return from coming abroad, not just those in the process of leaving.
“Re-entry is the hardest part of study abroad at Quinnipiac,” Frazier said. “Frankly, it’s something we have not done well. When students go abroad, they come back, and they have a life, so it’s hard to get everyone back together to talk about their experiences at one convenient time.”
As the university tries to increase study abroad awareness, Frazier explains the many options students have to gain worldly experiences.
“There is a large move toward shorter programs,” Frazier said. “There was a time when students would go abroad for a year, and that eventually moved to a semester, and now we’re seeing a lot of intersession and two-week programs.”
Some of these two-week programs include the various QU 301 courses abroad. These trips have included Ecuador, Morocco, Italy and other European countries. However, students who want to travel abroad for a year are still able to. Students interested in traveling for a year have the option of applying for one program or splitting it up into two programs.
“We’ve come a long way since I first got here,” Frazier said. “We’re starting to think globally.”
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