NYU Pushes Foreign Study (1/2)

The number of American students who study in other countries has been growing. The Institute of International Education, in its most recent report, counted more than two hundred twenty-three thousand, a record. A few years ago a commission established by Congress called for a goal of one million a year by two thousand seventeen.

The institute says growth in study abroad programs is partly the result of more choices of shorter lengths of study than a full school year.

More than half the American students who go abroad study in Europe, though fewer than in the past. Students have shown growing interest in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Since two thousand one, New York University has been sending more students abroad than any other campus in the United States. It offers classes in Argentina, China, Ghana and several countries in Europe.

More than nine hundred sixty undergraduates from New York University will go abroad this fall. The largest number -- four hundred -- will study in Florence, Italy. Mostly local professors teach fifty courses there. Twenty-six students, the smallest number, are going to Berlin, Germany, where just eight courses are offered.