by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman

After a few years of declining numbers, international study has been revived. American students still choose Western Europe as the preferred destination, not the proverbial year abroad, but most often for eight or ten weeks.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Malaysia is seeking to become a regional education hub and Britain has made it easier for foreign students to stay and work after graduating from one of its colleges.

India, China and South Korea in that order send the highest numbers of people to study in the US and their first, second and third choices are the University of Southern California, Columbia and New York University.

It’s estimated that there were close to 583,000 foreign students here in 2006 an increase of 18,000 from the previous year, contributing $14.6 billion to our economy.

Recently there has been a trend for study in developing countries fulfilling service learning projects.  As the world grows smaller, such experiences will add much to students’ understanding of global issues.