RELEASED: December 3, 2009

By Abby Malik

DANVILLE, KY—Once again, Centre College's dedication to educating students for global citizenship is being recognized. In the Institute of International Education's 2009 Open Doors report, Centre is ranked No. 4 on its list of top-40 baccalaureate institutions for study abroad. Centre is the highest-ranked Kentucky school on this list.

The Institute of International Education, the leading not-for-profit educational and cultural exchange organization in the United States, has conducted the annual statistical survey since 1949, and with support from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs since the early 1970s. The census is based on a survey of almost 3,000 accredited U.S. institutions.

This recent ranking is in addition to Centre earlier this year being ranked No. 7 in the nation (in a two-way tie) in the 2010 U.S. News & World Report college rankings for percentage of students who study abroad.

"In many ways, though, we're number one," says Dr. Milton Reigelman, Centre director of international programs, professor of English, and special assistant to the president. "No other school in this or other surveys has programs that they run themselves. None of these schools send 85 percent of their graduates to study abroad programs that they control. In that way, for five or six years, at least, we've really been number one."

With study abroad offerings in England, France, Mexico, China, New Zealand, India, Japan, Vietnam, Nicaragua and many other countries, Centre students can spend weeks, months or even a year studying and living in foreign cities.

Around 85 percent of Centre students take advantage of these options and study abroad at least once. Twenty-five to 30 percent study internationally two or three times, and a few have even chosen to take part in four study abroad trips.

Centre runs and staffs its own long-term, residential programs, which are located in Strasbourg, France; Merida, Mexico; and London, England. In each of these cities, students live with fellow Centre students and are taught by Centre professors.

For more information on study abroad at Centre, click here.

Have comments, suggestions, or story ideas? E-mail leigh.ivey@centre.edu with your feedback.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. 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/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.