Big 12 Students Lobby for Simon Act

Students from Big 12 universities have been in Washington this week, lobbying members of Congress for support of the Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act that would provide support for significant increases in study abroad opportunities for students.

The Lariat at Baylor University reports that the students were in Washington as part of the annual Big 12 on the Hill day in the capital. The students were also pushing for more funding for Pell Grant programs that help needy college students get their educations.

The Simon Act would seek to boost study abroad in the U.S. by nearly fourfold to 1 million per year. It would also aid students from traditionally underrepresented groups in study abroad, and it would promote nontraditional destinations for study abroad.

The ultimate goal of the Simon Act, supporters say, is to make study abroad as common a part of the higher education experience as writing or science coursework.