Foreign education has advantages for many students

By Mark Goode, Special to the On-Line Forty-Niner

Monday, January 25, 1999

Unlike most Cal State Long Beach students, Victoria Halberg, a junior, will be completing her Spanish minor in Argentina this year.

Halberg is one of only about 100 students who take advantage of the CSULB Study Abroad program according to Cecilia Fidora, program coordinator.

Halberg is working on her degree in English and her minor in Spanish fits perfectly with the program.

Most students do not take advantage of the program at CSULB. Students across the country have the same problem.

"Only about 1 percent of students in the United States study abroad, a number which is dangerously low," Fidora said.

She said now is the best time for a student to study abroad.

"Most people can't afford it later in life or they just don't have the time," she said.

The amount of students using study abroad programs across the country is dwindling, Fidora said.

"A lot of people dream about studying abroad but they never do," Fidora said.

Cost is a big reason why people do not use the program. What most students do not know is that the offered programs are part of the CSULB system.

If a person wants to study abroad in France, the tuition would be the same as attending CSULB, according to the program information. The only

costs to the student would be room, board and passage to and from the destination.

The average cost of living for a student living off campus who attends CSULB would be $12,268 said the CSU

International Programs office. When compared with the cost of studying abroad some of the overseas programs would be less expensive than living in Long Beach and attending CSULB.

"Some countries are more expensive," Fidora said, "but most would be comparable to a Cal State education."

Study Abroad offers students a wide variety of choices. A student can travel to such places as East and West Europe,

Australia, Canada, South America, and New Zealand.

If there is somewhere a student wants to go that is not offered through the CSULB program, Fidora will help find the right program for the student.

The Study Abroad office is filled with bookshelves full of information on study abroad programs offered across the country.

"It might cost a little more, but there's a program out there for everone and we'll help them find it," Fidora said.

The Study Abroad program offers something for every major. A student may have to compromise to find the right program.

"There's a program out there for every student. We just have to find it," she said.

The Study Abroad program offers several choices on lengths of programs offered. Students can take a trip for a

semester or for a year.

"The sememster programs tend to be more popular than the year-long programs," Fidora said.

"People change after they come back from overseas, some people go away shy and come back completely changed," Fidora said.

The Study Abroad office is loaced in Brotman Hall, Room 201. For more information, one may call (562) 985-3170.