Flexibility Spurs Short-Term Travel Demand

More students are pursuing short-term study abroad programs at Penn State, but officials there think that the economy has less to do with that trend than does the flexibility that short-term offerings provide students.

Regimented majors don’t provide many Penn State students with many options for long-term study abroad, reports the Daily Collegian student newspaper. Paul Shaffner, the assistant to the director of study abroad there, says that's the biggest reason for increasing student interest in brief international courses.

Shaffner also thinks lower costs may be a draw for some students but that, overall, the poor economy hasn’t seemed to deter Penn Staters from studying outside the United States.

“Somehow people are considering this important,” he said. “Important enough to spend money during tough times to do it.”

Economy Leads Students to New Destinations

The down economy isn’t leading to fewer students going abroad from many schools in Pennsylvania, but it may be making them more likely to consider nontraditional locations.

The Pitt News at the University of Pittsburgh checked with study-abroad offices at its school, along with Penn State, Leslie University and LaRoche College, and found that overall numbers of students going abroad are holding steady from a year ago.

But students and families are more cost-conscious than ever, and that means European and Australian destinations are losing favor to locations in Africa and Latin America.

Jennifer Wagner-Lawlor, the director of the study-abroad program at Penn State, said students are asking plenty of questions about costs and are waiting until just before deadline to submit applications and deposits.

“From the beginning of the year, we’ve seen a lot of caution with students,” she said.