Studying abroad can be an essential experience for completing your college education: for understanding your own society and global society, to gain professional skills like working with diverse populations, and to acquire the cosmopolitan perspective that can only come about by having the opportunity to compare your own society to another. Employers look very highly upon graduates with study abroad experience, as do graduate schools.
Think you can’t afford to study abroad? Think again! Many programs cost you exactly the same as what you would pay to attend TCNJ. These are the TCNJ-sponsored programs and the “TCNJ Exchange” programs. Some other programs in low-cost countries that are not in these two groups may also cost you the same or less than attending TCNJ for a semester. There are also a number of scholarships available for study abroad about which staff members from the Arlotto Family Center for Global Engagement can tell you when you decide to apply.
African American Studies majors can choose to fulfill liberal learning or minor requirements through a study abroad program, and, depending on the program and location, may be able to fulfill major requirements as well.
Worried about navigating a foreign country on your own? Or do you hope to never speak English during your entire stay abroad? You can pick programs from a wide array of choices that range from more and less independence and more and less immersion: programs that involve living with other American students, with foreign students in dorms, or with local host-families. You can find programs that involve learning and traveling on field trips with fellow American students, while other programs allow you to enroll directly in classes in local universities with local and international students.
Explore study abroad options on TCNJ’s study abroad website, the A. Family Center for Global Engagement. Be sure to look at summer, and semester-long program, as well as TCNJ-faculty led short (2-3 week) Maymester and Winter Term programs.
We recommend and encourage students to study abroad between the second semester of sophomore year and the first semester of senior year. Talk about it early with your advisor, and work carefully on planning your classes here and overseas to ensure on-time graduation. For more information, explore study abroad options on TCNJ’s study abroad website, and visit TCNJ’s study abroad office in the A. Family Center for Global Engagement (Green Hall 111).
- Complete list of education abroad opportunities