EDITORIAL: Ensuring study-abroad options

Administrators reviewing foreign study programs must think first of quality and variety. But despite the growing financial and academic concerns that prompted the review, the University should not cut programs unnecessarily. Nationally, the number of students studying abroad has increased steadily over the past 10 years -- by 10.6 percent in the last year alone -- so the University needs to provide as many opportunities as possible. If providing a multitude of opportunities is becoming too expensive, then more study-abroad programs run by other universities should be acceptable options for Penn students. Still, in this case, the quality of the foreign country's school should be carefully reviewed to maintain high educational standards. If Penn students are going to pay full tuition while they study abroad, they should receive comparable education. And the value of studying in a foreign country should be accurately reflected in the amount of Penn credit students receive for their time spent abroad. If the University truly wants students to become more international, as University President Judith Rodin has stated, study-abroad programs should encourage as much interaction as is feasible with the people and culture of students' host countries. In short, costs and the level of student participation in a study-abroad program should not be administrators' only considerations when reviewing it. The wholistic experience is just as, if not more, important -- and students should have a variety of options to choose from in this regard.