one in eight undergraduates undertook part of their courses overseas a higher rate than the US.About three quarters of study abroad students received funding, with three quarters of it provided by their institutions. Universities shelled out over $20 million on their students’ international study experiences last year, up from $17m in 2009 and $13m in 2007.Australian government programs provided another $6m, principally from the income-contingent OS-HELP loan scheme, through which students can borrow up to $11,200 to help cover the costs of up to a year of overseas study. The fee-free loans are added to students’ accumulated HELP debts.
Formal exchange programs are the most heavily supported, with 92 per cent of exchange students receiving funding. But while exchange programs are also the most popular, representing about 37 per cent of international study experiences, short-term programs are close behind at 32 per cent.RMIT University said the newfound popularity of short-term study experiences such as study tours reflected the modern student lifestyle.They’ve got part-time jobs and they don’t stay on campus as long as they used to in the 70s and 80s. So they’ve got more barriers to the traditional one-semester student exchange, said deputy vice-chancellor Stephen Connelly.The three-week study tour is easier to handle. They don’t need to give up their part-time job, they don’t have to give up the room in their house, they don’t have to jeopardise their relationship.
The University of Technology, Sydney said it had started identifying and assessing short courses that could be undertaken by students during semester breaks.We get academics involved to make sure it’s a bona fide tertiary provider. That enables students to get it credited to their degrees, said the associate dean of arts and social sciences, Paul Allatson.He said students also made their own arrangements.A lot would be going overseas to work with non-government organisations in developing countries, teaching English or helping build schools,” he said.
