MORE and more people are studying abroad these days because it is now a university requirement here in the United States. Take for instance the Carlston School of Management at University of Minnesota. It is now a requirement for their business students to study for at least one academic semester abroad. A total of two semesters abroad can cost $1,000 of additional tuition to the students. Countries they prefer to study are Argentina and France. There may be no peculiar business ideas in those countries mentioned like those practiced by Fortune 500 companies but the management of the business school has perceived that some business practices in those countries are worth emulating.

But to many who cannot afford to spend $1,000 for tuition in studying abroad, there are always institutions funding grants for scholarships abroad. Some colleges and universities nationwide have even organized scholarships to poor but deserving students who are in their roster to study abroad. Other costs that a student needs to be aware before going on a trip abroad are the cost of living in the place such as lodging costs, transportation costs in going to the college campus and back, costs in utilities in the place that you’re living in such as high speed wired and wireless Internet connection, cable television, electricity, water and land line and mobile phone line connection. One must also spend for the appliances needed while on his or her semester abroad. By the way, the two-month summer program is also counted as a semester.

The other things that the student needs are his or her own dishwasher, clothes dryer, heater, air conditioner, a television with an LCD screen, a subwoofer system and a DVD player. It’s not just the finances that count too. When one studies abroad, the student will surely have an exhilarating experience in molding his or her own character to be tolerant to people of other races, cultures and languages. This is especially true in a classroom composed of multinationals where English is only the second language. One may have a classmate who is an Australian, an Iraqi or a Tongan. It is quite amusing to find out the culture where one’s classmate comes from.

And it’s not just the Carlston School of Management which has joined the bandwagon of sending their students on internships abroad. There are other selected colleges and universities across the United States and even in nearby Canada which have chosen this curricular path. Think tanks in these educational institutions have found out that learning must not be rigid academic or practical training. Learning must also be coupled with enjoyment. Thus, we see students enjoying themselves embedded to the culture of the host country and even learning their language as well. Washington State University management says that they want to expose their students to other global business practices. The students are also given an option to enroll in a foreign language course and acquire it on the duration of their academic stay in the foreign country of their choice. Colleges and universities allow their students to select from a list the country they wish to have a study tour on.