A record 86 percent of Centre students study abroad

RELEASED: Nov. 22, 2006

DANVILLE, KY—Year in and year out, roughly four out of five Centre College students study abroad. This year, participation in study abroad programs is even more widespread. A recent study compiled by Milton Reigelman, director of Centre's international programs, shows that a record 86 percent of 2006 Centre graduates studied abroad.

"This percentage shows the growing popularity of Centre's international options," Reigelman says. "More and more students are showing up here as freshmen already convinced that a significant cross-cultural experience is crucial to their development as an educated person in the 21st century."

It's well-known that international study is a way of life at Centre. In addition to guaranteeing graduation in four years and an internship, the Centre Commitment guarantees each student the opportunity to study abroad.

Centre ranks in the top five of the 3,500 colleges and universities in the country in student participation in foreign study. In a report issued by the International Educational Exchange agency last week, the College was ranked fourth among all colleges and universities and third among undergraduate schools.

What makes Centre's programs different from those at other colleges and universities is that a Centre faculty member with significant knowledge of that region of the world lives at the site, teaching and coordinating special trips and other activities.

Centre operates residential sites for its own students in England (London), France (in Strasbourg, across the Rhine from Germany), and Latin America (in Merida, Mexico). The college also has exchange programs with schools in Japan and Northern Ireland. Some Centre students study at the University of Reading (near London) each year as well. Around 10 percent of the student body each year spends a term or more at one of these sites. The costs for these programs are essentially the same as studying in Danville. (Students pay their own airfare.)

In addition, many Centre professors offer shorter, more focused trips during the short CentreTerm. In the recent past, Centre students have studied primates in Barbados; international relations in India; Far Eastern culture in Japan; the roots of the Bible in Rome and Turkey; history in Vietnam; religion in Nicaragua; art and music in Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic; anthropology in Spain and Morocco; economics in Jamaica; history in the Central African Republic; and sociology in South Africa.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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