Alexis Williams | Assistant News Editor

With BVU’s emphasis on hands-on experience, it is no surprise that studying abroad is a staple of the university. According to the BVU’s website, the study abroad program provides opportunities around the globe with more than 100 students studying in over twenty countries on six continents in the past decade. Beyond studying while abroad, the program offered at BVU provides opportunities for internships, service learning, and student teaching. Recently there has been a slight decrease in study abroad enrollment according to Study Abroad Coordinator, Dr. Dixee Bartholomew-Feis.

Study abroad trends, including this year, at Buena Vista University (BVU) show that students are more likely to study abroad during the spring semester instead of the fall semester.

With nine students total studying abroad last year, this year the university fell just a little short with only seven students planning to study abroad during the 2013-2014 school year. According to Feis, nine students was the highest number of students that have ever studied abroad at one time from BVU, with the most popular location being London. This year there is one student studying abroad this fall and six planning on studying in the spring. Last year followed the same trend with three students in the fall and six students in the spring.

Sophomore Meghan Harmening, who is planning to study abroad next fall, suggests “You can’t go wrong studying abroad—Being able to understand a culture outside of the United States is a rare skill that sets you apart in so many ways – both professionally and personally.”

Feis suggests beginning to plan at least one year in advance, if not two years before a student hopes to study abroad. She also suggests speaking with her first if any students are interested in studying abroad. According to Feis, students often do not have difficulty finding the finances to study abroad because there is a lot of aid available. As explained by multiple BVU professors, the only additional expense to students studying abroad is the plane ticket to the location. Instead of having financial difficulties with studying abroad, Feis indicated that students often have difficulty with finding the courage to make such a big decision.

Harmening also stated that when thinking of studying abroad, “just go for it,” because the values and the things you learn have no limits. “It was never a question of ‘if,’ but rather a question of ‘when’,” said Harmening.

BVU’s website promotes studying abroad, saying the opportunity offers a variety of benefits such as still graduating on time, taking classes for your major, participating in English-speaking programs, having more credits towards general education, and having a variety of options when it comes to the time period. BVU believes that studying abroad is valuable to their students.

Feis believes study abroad is valuable for students because “students grow in incredible ways – personally, academically, socially, culturally, etc. They discover their strengths and the strengths of others. They begin to discover the world – one piece at a time.”