With California's international economy, ethnic diversity and wide-ranging global ties, participating in an educational experience abroad is an increasingly important part of a college education.

"Studying abroad in Korea gave me the chance to learn some of the time-honored traditions of an ancient culture while experiencing a place that is a forerunner in a growing global community," says UC Berkeley architecture student Daniel Choi, who studied at Yonsei University in Seoul during the summer of 2003. "I've experienced scholarship on a truly international level."

Choi is one of 17,000 UC students who have studied in foreign countries with the UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) in the last five years. UCEAP, the nation's largest higher education long-term study-abroad organization, sponsors programs at nearly 150 institutions in 35 countries.

Students in good standing — even freshmen — can take advantage of UCEAP's offerings in a wide range of academic disciplines. UCEAP participants enroll in host university courses for a full academic year abroad, or may participate in short-term or discipline-specific programs.

Students pay UC fees, receive financial aid as they would at their home campuses, earn UC academic credit and grades, and retain their student status at their UC campuses while abroad. Most students continue to make normal progress toward their degrees.

UCEAP Accommodates Students' Changing Needs
While several UC study-abroad programs are yearlong, in response to feedback from students and faculty, UCEAP has developed many shorter learning opportunities. Two-thirds of the 130 new programs created over the last five years are a semester, quarter or summer in duration, enabling students to graduate in four years while adding an international dimension to their undergraduate education.

Students also want the courses they take while abroad to have practical applications in today's world. Many recently introduced programs address specific academic areas, including biology, engineering, architecture and business. In Sweden, Mexico and soon in China, UC and host university faculty lead courses about compelling current issues, such as European-American relations, Asia and globalization, and Mexico-U.S. trans-border topics.

Research is a component of many students' UCEAP experience, one which can reinforce a student's choice of major or help her narrow her focus. Nina Nowshiravani spent a year at Lund University in Sweden, where she did field research on damselflies. "Unlike most research jobs, I was not in a lab, nor was I wearing protective gloves. I was studying evolution in situ, near a picturesque creek," she says. "When I left Davis, I was just another EAP biology student. I never dreamed that I'd return a passionate researcher in evolutionary studies."

In addition to research, many students obtain hands-on experience by working in agencies and corporations in host countries. They fully immerse themselves in the local culture and institutions through these internship opportunities, sometimes forging lasting connections. "I liked [my UCEAP] experience so much that when I returned, I finished a quarter early and moved to China," says recent alumna Lindsey Newhall, who spent a summer at Beijing Normal University. The UC Santa Cruz anthropology major credits UCEAP with opening doors for her. "I am now living in the heart of Beijing, studying Chinese and working as a news copy editor at China Central Television. It's the beginning of a rewarding career in and out of China."

Integrating EAP into UC Degree Programs
To ensure that students continue working toward their degrees at a reasonable pace, UCEAP actively works with the faculty in campus colleges, schools and departments to integrate the study-abroad programs into their curricula. They work together to develop materials that advise students on why, when and where to study abroad and the courses that would best complement their UC coursework. In the past few years, many campus academic units have developed courses that provide a foundation for and/or build on courses offered abroad.

Most important for students, UCEAP staff has compiled a database of faculty-approved UCEAP courses that fulfill major, minor and breadth requirements. The searchable Web tool, called the Course Finder, lists more than 24,000 approved courses offered through UCEAP programs.

The academic integration of UCEAP makes international study an accessible and seamless step in UC degree programs, helping students to maximize the value of their study-abroad experiences while making normal progress toward their degrees.