Saints Abroad

For over forty years, undergraduate and graduate students at The College of St. Scholastica have been jet-setting around the world as part of their academic programs to discover more about themselves and the world around them. Immersing in new cultures gives students real-life exposure to situations they might not have encountered in the classroom.

Halted by the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic halted St. Scholastica’s tradition of education and service abroad. Students abroad at the time were advised to return to the United States as borders closed and international travel was brought to a complete standstill. As a result, study abroad programs were forced into a sedentary state for almost two years.

“One of our partners, Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA), didn’t make it through the pandemic,” reported Callie Ronstrom, Education Abroad Advisor. “They were an external partner we worked with very closely.”. With the majority of St. Scholastica students participating in HECUA programs when choosing to study abroad, the permanent closure impacted the student body and their interest in external experiences.

After working in a limited capacity for the last few years, the Center of Experiential Learning is excited to report that the study abroad program is back on its feet. In fact, numbers are almost back to their pre-pandemic levels, with 6% of traditional undergraduate students opting for this life-changing experience by taking the leap into education and service abroad. These numbers also rise exponentially as more awareness is brought to the programs.

A variety of opportunities

There are several types of study abroad opportunities offered to students. Faculty-led programs can range from a few weeks to an entire semester abroad with a cohort of other St. Scholastica students. For example, as part of Ireland in the Spring, St. Scholastica’s oldest and only semester-long program, students travel with two St. Scholastica faculty to Louisburgh, Ireland, a small village on the west coast of Ireland. While faculty-led programs can be more rigid, they are the most popular for students seeking opportunities abroad. Alternatively, external partners allow students more flexibility to pick and choose what they would like from their experiences.

Students can also immerse themselves in an individual study abroad program at the destination of their choice. These programs, which can be offered over a summer or semester, commit students to travel abroad for a longer period of time, oftentimes solo. Students reap the benefit of their time and energy, thoroughly engaged in the culture of their destination.

A third, often overlooked, option is a national exchange program. The College of St. Scholastica has recently enrolled as part of the National Student Exchange Program, a consortium of 200 institutions across the United States, all U.S. territories and the seven provinces of Canada. This exchange consortium allows students of participating institutions to study for up to an entire academic year at another member institution while living and taking courses at the chosen institution. “It can be hard to be far from home and far from family and to be in a different cultural setting or a different language setting,” Ronstrom recognized. Therefore, participation in programs like the National Student Exchange can be a helpful option for students to consider. By completing an exchange term within the North Americas, students can stay close to their friends and families in some capacity.

Accessibility of programs

Despite the positive attributes of study abroad, some students can be hesitant about the accessibility of the opportunity. “There is a myth amongst the student body that it’s inaccessible, but really, there are some programs that are quite affordable, if not comparable to the prices that they would already have been paying for a semester enrolled at the Duluth campus,” explained Ronstrom.

Whichever route a student takes, it is important to note that scholarships are available for education and service abroad experiences. The College offers internal scholarships, and there are additional state and federal offerings.

Ronstrom would like to see the barriers associated with studying abroad minimized. “There are things to learn all over the world in every single discipline,” she said. The College hopes to see more Saints involved in education and service abroad in the years to come. For more information, students are encouraged to search and apply for programs using the Education Abroad Application Portal.