Study abroad programs may resume

Brigitte Ortiz | THE RIDER

After the outbreak of COVID-19, the office of International Programs and Partnerships had to cancel all study abroad trips for the 2019-2020 semesters. This summer, the office has 11 trips planned for students.

Alan Earhart, director of International Programs and Partnerships, said his office is going to plan a meeting mid-March to decide if all programs will be approved or they will do something on a case-by-case basis. 

“There’s a big demand,” Earhart said. “We just have to make sure that we do it safely and, you know, follow [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines and everything else.”

Before the pandemic, through the faculty-led study abroad program, the office would send about 220 students to different countries with UTRGV faculty for 15 to 20 days.  Earhart said the majority of students study abroad in the summer.  

“[The classes are] UTRGV courses,” he said. “They’re taught by UTRGV professors, and they go see cultural sites that are part of the course.”

Earhart said they also have exchange programs with international partner universities, such as The University of Barcelona. 

“So, every year, pre-pandemic, we send about four or five students to Barcelona, and they go to Barcelona on this exchange program, and they take classes at the University of Barcelona for a semester,” he said. “They get to keep all of their financial aid because they’re actually paying tuition to UTRGV under this exchange agreement, and they just have to pay for their life at Barcelona. And we have programs like this in France, South Korea, Mexico, Spain and a couple other countries.” 

He said if students find a study abroad program that they want to participate in, the office will help them get involved.

When they were planning these programs last fall, Earhart said they did not create them covid proof because they had no idea what the pandemic was going to look like.  

“We’ve been working on these programs for a year,” he said. “We didn’t know, last summer, what summer 2021 was going to look like. So, we didn’t know whether social distancing will still be a thing or mask wearing or, you know, whether we’d be able to put two students in one room, or we’d have to have one student per room. So, what we decided to do was to just create the program just exactly like we did before.” 

Earhart said he thinks the challenge is that every country is different. 

“I haven’t looked recently but, probably, South Korea has a really low positivity rate, especially compared to the U.S.,” he said. “And maybe the U.K. has a much higher positivity rate compared to South Korea, so you would have to do things differently in each country.” 

The office hosted an information session on Feb. 16 to inform students that they are planning study abroad programs for the summer. 

“So, students can go and sign up for these programs for the summer, and they’re not going to be charged a penny until two things happen,” Earhart said. “One, we have totally advised the students; the student knows exactly what they’re getting into, and they agree to the requirements of the programs, as far as, like, the program cost and when they have to pay this and all of that. That’s the first one. So, you don’t just submit your application and then we charge you money. You submit your application and then we actually meet with you one on one, and then talk to you about this.”

He said the second requirement is that the program has to be viable and approved by the university, which means that there are at least ten students, in most cases, that are signed up. 

“When those two criteria both meet … then we will charge the application fee and the program cost, and all of that,” Earhart said. “ So, there’s really no risk for signing up right now.”

His office is also trying to promote the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. 

“So, the Gilman International Scholarship is free money from the U.S. Department of State for undergraduate students that are Pell eligible,” Earhart said. “So, if you receive the Pell Grant and you are a U.S. citizen … you can apply for the Gilman and get up to $5,000 to pay for your study abroad. And this money has no stipulations, you can use it for travel, for tuition, for a new backpack, whatever.”

According to studentaid.gov, “Federal Pell Grants usually are awarded only to undergraduate students who display exceptional financial need and have not earned a bachelor’s, graduate, or professional degree.”

He said in October, which was the early bird deadline, 40 students applied and 25 students were awarded.

The scholarship awarded each student more than $4,000 on average. 

“We helped the students write their essay,” Earhart said. “It only takes about three or four hours to submit an application and the next deadline is coming up. It’s March 9; and so, that’s what we’re doing in these info sessions as we’re talking about what study abroad is, what the opportunities are, but we’re also talking about the Gilman scholarship.”

He said it is important for students to plan ahead. He advises students to speak with an academic advisor so that studying abroad can facilitate graduation plans.

“We do have students who, you know, maybe they’re in their third year and they’ve already taken all of their core requirements,” Earhart said. “They don’t have any elective credits left, but they just decide, ‘You know what, I want to study abroad.’ … We do have students that do that but, and that’s totally fine … I would encourage students to figure out how to do this in a way that is going to help them graduate as well.”

He said there is also a misconception that students cannot study abroad if there are no courses relating to their major.

“Even if it doesn’t apply to your major or it doesn’t help you graduate, you can still decide to go and do this experience as a study abroad during your time at UTRGV,” Earhart said. “That’s a misconception that students have that we’re constantly fighting.”

For information on the application process, visit utrgv.edu/ipp.