PORTLAND, Maine - The Portland-based Council on International Educational Exchange is pledging $20 million to help make study abroad possible and affordable for American students.
CIEE President and CEO Jim Pellow says that study abroad dramatically improves college graduates' chances in the job market, but very few students actually do it.
"When students come out of high school and they're surveyed, over 90 percent of high school graduates going to college want to study abroad when they're in college," Pellow says. "Yet when they graduate less than 10 or 12 percent actually do, so there's this big gap between those that want to study abroad and those that do."
Pellow says costs, curriculum mismatches and a culture that doesn't foster it are among the barriers to students' studying outside the United States - things like students not having passports. The $20 million from CIEE will fund scholarships, travel grants and other expenses.
The organization will also sponsor passports for 10,000 students, among other programs.
