St. Olaf ranks No. 1 in study abroad for fifth straight year

St. Olaf College | News

November 12, 2013

St. Olaf ranks No. 1 in study abroad for fifth straight year

As his classmates and local residents look on, Chris Folken '14 (right) participates in a Johannesburg-area township "Theatre of the Oppressed"-style play about xenophobia. The experience was part of the "Social Realities of South Africa" Interim program led by Professor of Social Work Mary Carlsen '79. — As his classmates and local Soweto township residents look on, Chris Folken ’14 (right) participates in a “Theatre of the Oppressed”-style play about xenophobia. The experience was part of the “Social Realities of South Africa” Interim program led by Professor of Social Work Mary Carlsen ’79.

St. Olaf College sent more students to study abroad during the 2011–12 academic year than any other baccalaureate institution in the nation, according to the Open Doors 2013 Report on International Educational Exchange.

This marks the fifth straight year the college has ranked first among its peers in the total number of students studying abroad.

St. Olaf currently offers study-abroad programs in 54 countries, including nearly 80 semester or year-long programs and nearly 30 off-campus courses during Interim. Faculty-led semester programs include Global Semester, Term in Asia, Mediterranean Semester, and Environmental Science in Australia.

Open Doors is the comprehensive information resource on international students in the United States and on the more than 200,000 U.S. students who study abroad as part of their academic experience. The Institute of International Education publishes the Open Doors report annually with funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.