Study abroad for all at Cedar Crest College

Cedar Crest College beginning in spring 2018 will guarantee every sophomore in good standing the chance to study abroad - at no extra cost beyond regular tuition, the school announced Monday.

Full-time sophomores with a minimum 2.5 GPA will get the chance to spend seven to 10 days in another country with their classmates under the program. The trip will take place over spring break, and no class time will be missed, the college said. The college estimates the vast majority of the 180 to 200 students in the class will participate.

"We hope that students will use the experience to learn some things about themselves and learn some things about the world," Carmen Twillie Ambar, president of the women's college based in Allentown, said in a statement.
The Institute of International Education, which tracks study abroad, had not heard of any other programs like Cedar Crest's.

"We applaud innovative efforts such as these to make study abroad opportunities available to all students at an institution," said Wagaye Johannes, who leads the organization's Generation Study Abroad initiative. "While many campuses have pledged to provide financial assistance as part of their commitment to IIE's Generation Study Abroad initiative, and some campuses such as Goucher and Susquehanna now require study abroad or study away programs, we have not seen another institution that has specifically announced that they will provide these opportunities to all students at no additional cost beyond the regular tuition."

Cedar Crest estimates the initiative will cost $450,000 to $600,000, which will be covered by an anonymous donor and other university funds.

The freshmen class entering this fall will be the first to qualify for the initiative. The president will announce the location of the inaugural excursion next fall.

Cedar Crest officials said some of the college's students could not afford to study abroad without the program. About 40 percent of Cedar Crest students are first generation and the average family income is $65,000 per year, the college noted.

"Our students come from diverse backgrounds with some of them being the first generation in their family to go to college," Elizabeth Meade, provost, said in a statement. "Some have never traveled away from home or even flown on a plane, and some couldn't afford to study abroad otherwise. Trips like this will help give them a new view of the world as well as a new view of themselves in that world."

About 20 to 30 Cedar Crest students opt to study abroad each semester. The college anticipates the new program may increase that number.

Sophomores will take a class in "cultural competency" during the fall semester to prepare for the trip.