UC San Diego International Center
Continues to Rank High as Study Abroad Sender and Host for International Scholars

May 7, 2008

By Jan Jennings

The University of California, San Diego ranks second nationally among major research universities sending students abroad in full-year programs, according to the 2006-2007 Annual Report of UC San Diego’s International Center. Yeshiva University in New York ranks first.

Some 1,092 UC San Diego students studied abroad during 2006-2007 through the Programs Abroad advising services. Currently, 21.5% of undergraduate students study abroad, and according to Lynn C. Anderson, dean of International Education and director of the International Center, UC San Diego’s goal is to see that half of its students have studied abroad by the time they graduate.

In one step toward achieving this goal of sending 50% of undergraduates abroad, the Programs Abroad Office has established a new program called Global Seminars. Led by UC San Diego faculty members, students will take UC San Diego courses in 5-week, 8-unit summer programs abroad. During its inaugural program, summer 2008, 140 students will embark on Global Seminars in Rome and Sorrento, Italy; Paris, France; Cadiz, Spain; Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and San Jose, Costa Rica.

“Enrollment is expected to increase annually as word gets out about this study abroad option,” says Anderson.

During 2006-2007, UC San Diego hosted 1,966 international faculty and researchers and now ranks eighth among U.S. research institutions in the number of international scholars hosted. Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Columbia, UC Davis, UCLA, and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively, make up the top seven universities hosting international scholars.

International students at UCSD increased in number from 2,063 to 2,168 during 2006-2007, despite a national trend of declining numbers of international students experienced by many universities.

Anderson says UC San Diego hosted a total of 4,134 international students, researchers, and faculty members last year. She credits the extraordinary support from the Friends of the International Center and volunteers in the surrounding community for UC San Diego's ability to provide the hospitality necessary for this large population of visiting students and scholars.

UC San Diego’s high participation in programs abroad is achieved through the UC-wide Education Abroad Program (EAP) as well as UC San Diego’s Opportunities Abroad Program (OAP), both of which are administered through the International Center.  Participation in UC San Diego’s programs abroad has more than doubled during the last 10 years.

During 2006-2007, UCSD students studying abroad were awarded a total of $486,370 in special scholarship support for international education. “Study abroad scholarships are a priority at UC San Diego,” says Anderson. “Our goal is to enable all students to have access to study abroad at a cost in keeping with their net budget for studying at UC San Diego.”

During 2006-2007, math, science and engineering majors abroad represented 23.7 percent of all UC San Diego students abroad (compared to the national average of 15 percent). UC San Diego has sent more engineering and computer science majors on EAP than any other UC campus over the last five years.

Of the 1,966 international researchers and faculty members visiting UCSD last year, the report points out that 38 percent were from European countries and 45 percent from Asia.  Most of these scholars’ disciplines fell into science fields, with 39 percent in the health sciences and 19 percent in the physical sciences.

The UC San Diego International Center began in the early 1960s as an organization to support programs and activities for visitors and students from other countries. Its permanent location on the UCSD campus was built in 1971. Last year approximately 1,000 events were held at the Center.  A significant expansion of the International Center facility is in the planning stage, as there is need for space to keep up with multiple campus internationalization efforts, including the increasing programs abroad opportunities in all majors and expanding the diversity of represented regions and campus interactions with international students and scholars.

The International Center continually recruits and trains volunteers to serve as American English tutors, orientation assistants to greet new international arrivals in the fall, host families, weekly helpers at the Centers’ International Café lunches, Friends of the International Center’s Resale Shop, and hosts for their Wednesday international spouses/children social hours. In addition, the Friends sponsor special educational events international ethnic dinners.

A new collaboration this year between the International Center, the Friends, and ArtPower!,a multi-disciplinary performing arts program at UC San Diego, has allowed patrons the opportunity to taste cuisine native to the performers of three ArtPower! events on campus in what are called Taste of Art Dinners. A Taste of Art Dinner has been offered during each quarter of the 2007-2008 academic year. The fall quarter featured Turkish food, the winter quarter, Vietnamese, and the spring quarter, Cape Verdean fare.

The Friends’ monthly newsletter features cross-cultural and educational events, volunteer activities and letters from outstanding international grads and students abroad, to whom the Friends have awarded scholarships.

For more information on the UC San Diego International Center, including volunteer projects, call (858) 534-3730. To view the International Center Annual Report, check the website at http://icenter.ucsd.edu/pdfs/annual_report07.pdf.

Media Contacts:
Jan Jennings, 858-822-1684
Lynn C. Anderson, International Center, 858-534-0685