Should all college students be required to study abroad? Why or why not? by Spencer

Should all college students be required to study abroad? Why or why not? by Spencer - March 2016 Scholarship Essay

I think studying abroad is a tremendous opportunity. I have been fortunate enough to travel in China for two weeks by myself last summer and to have gone to Denmark with a group from my high school for 10 days last Fall. I love to travel and have new experiences.
Not everyone feels that way though and for some the expense of traveling will never see any reward. There are some practical issues as well. Who would pay for it and how?

A good start would be to make foreign travel available to more students who do want to go. More universities and colleges could incorporate international contact into existing programs. I am majoring in international business but there are many fields that would benefit from being more comfortable with multinational cooperation; engineering, art, etc. Many schools already have foreign campuses. There should be economies of scale if bundled trips and group numbers can be contracted to go each year. Also if housing can be obtained that can be a large part of the budget.

Another important factor is developing hard data that will support the idea that students will benefit from this. I feel travel is very important but hard numbers make changing how things are done easier. Since this is an academic issue there should be studies done to support or refute the premise. I found several travel websites that thought travel was a good idea, no surprise there. There was one article I found that was more clinically based,
http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/105/3/515/, that did find people in the study did change their personal and world outlook based on the trips they had taken. More study would be helpful.

Travel is a great part of life. Forcing everyone to go that is in college may not be the best use of limited funds. Studying the effects of travel and making it more available to those that want to go seems like the next best step.
Thank you!
Spencer Callahan
Not everyone feels that way though and for some the expense of traveling will never see any reward. There are some practical issues as well. Who would pay for it and how? I think that a good start would be to make foreign travel available to more students who do want to go.