As many Wharton students are concerned with fulfilling the numerous requirements of the school and securing summer internships, few Wharton juniors have chosen to study abroad over the past few years.
In fact, of the 2,400 Wharton undergraduates, only 49 are studying in foreign countries this semester.
But with the recent addition of three new study abroad options -- announced at a Wharton faculty meeting last week -- the dream of spending a semester overseas may become a reality for more Wharton undergraduates.
"I would like to see more Wharton students study abroad, and I think the more options, the better," Vice Dean of Undergraduate Education Thomas Dunfee said, adding that he believes studying abroad contributes to students' general understanding of international business and culture.
The new Wharton-approved exchange programs will be located at Singapore Management University and at two schools in Belgium.
The new programs will help complement the eight programs that previously existed and will each offer at least one course in Business Breadth, which will fulfill the Wharton requirement.
With the exception of required foreign language courses, instruction at each of the three new programs will be given in English.
"Until we approved these programs, we had only two English-speaking Wharton programs, and both of them were in Hong Kong," said Anita Henderson, associate director of the Wharton undergraduate division. "Now, we have two in Europe and another one in Asia, and we're continuing to look at new programs."
Henderson, who is in charge of study abroad programs, said the Wharton undergraduate division is currently involved in negotiations to create other programs in France, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Wharton officials have been working on improving and expanding Wharton study abroad options in response to a survey conducted last year.
"Every year, Wharton does what's called a stake-holder survey and encourages students to respond to it," Henderson said. "Last year, we asked a series of questions on study abroad. Based on these responses, we decided what to do with these new study abroad programs."
The surveys reflected a demand for more diverse programs offering business classes that would fulfill Wharton requirements and an interest in more English-speaking programs.
With an increased emphasis on liberal arts among faculty in Wharton, students are being encouraged to seek international experiences more and more.
"Overall, I think the goals [of Wharton study abroad programs] are the same as for [College of Arts and Sciences] students," Henderson said. "We think people should know about the rest of the world."
Henderson added that study abroad experiences are also useful for students interested in international business.
"If you're going to be doing business for the whole world, you should know what their view is," she said. "The best way to do that is to sit in a classroom and see what's going on."
The programs will feature interactive international business courses, as well as standard business and liberal arts options.
Currently, many Wharton students choose to utilize the College's study abroad programs because they offer many more options than those of the Wharton School. The goal of the expansion is to change this trend.
"I think the purpose of the expansion was to encourage students to go abroad because sometimes they will say they cannot afford to do a whole semester with no Wharton courses," Henderson said.
Wharton students interested in studying abroad next semester must submit their applications by this Friday. Students considering studying abroad in 2003 or 2004 may attend an information session on either Feb. 25 or Feb. 28.
