SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – More than half of all Syracuse University students study abroad or away at some point throughout their college careers. This figure greatly surpasses the national average of around 6%, and helps SU position itself as one of the 10 best colleges in the country for students who plan to study abroad.
The fall/spring split
But SU’s program faces a growing challenge: far more students want to go abroad in the spring than in the fall. According to SU Campus Outreach Manager Delaney Van Wey, between double to three times as many students study abroad in the spring semester compared to the fall semester.
“It’s quite a bit larger in the spring compared to the fall,” Van Wey said. “Over the years, we’ve gotten a couple of reasons for why students want to go in the spring.”
While the reasons vary by student, Van Wey illustrated a few key themes that she and the abroad programs have heard.
“One is the weather. That’s probably the biggest one. We have cold winters here in Syracuse,” Van Wey said. “Sometimes with fraternity and sorority rush there’s some interesting feelings around there, and just wanting to go [abroad] with friends. It kind of is a snowball effect.”
The weather is a unique aspect for Syracuse. Syracuse’s average lows in January and February hover around the mid-teens.
Florence, Barcelona and Madrid, three of the most popular destinations for SU students who study abroad in the spring, all offer a much warmer climate and an escape from the harsh Central New York winters.
Spring capacity problems
All of Syracuse Abroad’s programs have a capacity limit on the amount of students who can study abroad in a given semester.
“We just simply can’t fit every student in a building, classroom and in housing,” Van Wey said. “So we have to limit the number of students we have to accept.”
Usually, capacity isn’t a huge concern for students who want to study abroad and for the programs themselves. But with the rise in popularity of studying abroad in the spring, many students see problems they wouldn’t have faced in the fall.
“In the spring, it’s much more competitive and not everyone is going to get into their top choice program,” said Van Wey. “In fact, it’s possible that not everyone is going to be able to get abroad in the spring at all depending on the number of students who apply.”
Van Wey went on to say that even though all programs have capacity, there is especially limited space for the Florence, Madrid and Barcelona programs.
Incentivizing students to study abroad in the fall
Van Wey and the rest of the Syracuse Abroad team recognize the imbalance between the fall and spring semesters. They have frequently focused on encouraging students to consider studying abroad in the fall, both with incentives directly from the abroad program and reasons outside of their control.
“We never hit capacity at any of our programs in the fall,” Van Wey said. “Fall is as close to a guarantee to getting into your top choice program as you can get. Another thing you’re going to want to think about is how much easier it’s going to be to sublet an off-campus apartment in the fall compared to the spring.”
Van Wey went on to detail how Syracuse Abroad offers more scholarships for students who decide to go abroad in the fall compared to the spring, including packages that come close to covering the entire cost of the program.
Though the imbalance may never fully work itself out, whether it’s due to the tradition of studying abroad in the spring as an SU student or for other reasons, Van Wey at least wants students to realize the perks of studying abroad in the fall.