Overview
Austin College Places a Strong Emphasis on All Things Global, Offering a Variety of Study Abroad Options
More than 70 percent of Austin College graduates have participated in study abroad programs at least once during college, exploring a range of January Term adventures, semester-long study abroad options, individual study experiences, or international service opportunities. Austin students regularly explore some 50 countries on six continents. The college is ranked number one in the nation for international study participation by the Institute of International Education, which is the school's third number one ranking in the past five years.
Austin College stresses international connections across the curriculum, emphasizing the global community in which society now lives and works. Modern language programs include Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish, with occasional offerings in Arabic or Farsi. The Jordan Family Language House program offers an immersive residential learning experience in the modern languages. Students living in this innovative residence are immersed in the target language and culture and speak only the target language in public areas of the residence.
Through Austin's Global Outreach "GO" Fellowships, students can pursue life-changing international experience and service projects in countries around the world. Students have received funding to work with orphans, care for the elderly, teach English, offer healthcare assistance, and improve economic development in Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Pakistan, Peru, and Russia.
Students never know where international experiences may lead. One recent graduate, a business administration major, secured a summer internship with Deloitte & Touche in China. The next year he was able to return to China for a second internship with another business leader. He combined the strength of his international experience with his business background, and today he is employed in Singapore as an analyst for the Archon Group, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs.
A January Term Can Take Students Places They've Never Imagined
Austin College's unique January Term offers several options for students. Since students take only one course during the month-long experience, courses can involve travel, intense exploration of a single topic, internships, and individualized study.
Each year, some 300 students enroll in study courses that may take them around the globe. Faculty recently have led trips to Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, England, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, and Uruguay.
Other students don't go as far afield, but also take advantage of the insights and experiences travel adds to coursework. The January Term "Leadership in a New Era" course took students to Washington, D.C., to witness the change of presidential leadership in 2009. Others studying the art of improvisation traveled to Chicago to work with professionals and attend improv performances at the Second City Comedy Theater and other venues.
Students come back with marvelous stories to tell. One student recently said, "My personal experiences abroad on January Term placed me in perhaps the most brilliant learning situations of my life. I have walked the roads of Timbuktu, wondered the halls of the Hagia Sophia in Turkey, climbed an active volcano in Guatemala, and stood at the top of the tallest building in the world in Taiwan. And, these are just to name a few of my experiences! All of these cultural experiences opened up worlds that textbooks could not even dream of conveying. We, as students, have met with the people of the countries we visited, connecting in ways that I never thought possible."
Small Classes and Active, Engaged Faculty and Students Create a True Learning Community
There are no faces in the crowd at Austin College. The college boasts a student-faculty ratio of 12:1 and small classes that average only 23 students (often fewer within students' majors). Austin College isn't a "learning factory" where students take multiple choice tests and rarely speak to professors; it is an academic community where students take an active role in learning in small classes with talented professors and attentive peers.
Students complete many courses beyond their major -- from the humanities to the sciences, as well as interdisciplinary courses that merge ideas from several departments. Students are encouraged to select classes that will truly broaden their perspectives, not just meet requirements. One professor describes the liberal arts as academic cross training: "Just like athletes combine exercises to work different muscles, we want [students] to connect disciplines -- to see how subjects overlap."
The professors are outstanding, but experience is sometimes the best teacher. That's why virtually all Austin College programs include possibilities for internships, research, and other hands-on experience. Whether managing a million dollar investment fund, getting involved in elementary school education, or negotiating in Model United Nations conferences, students can connect with their chosen field early and often.
While the faculty is top notch and concerned with professional development, students are their first priority. At Austin College, faculty know students by name. As one professor says, "We have an unwavering commitment to our students -- an ethos that says we will challenge you and get to know you as a person." Students know their faculty too -- usually calling them by their first names and often meeting with them beyond the classroom.
