By Julianna Parker
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The University of Oklahoma will provide more scholarships as an incentive to students to study abroad, OU President David Boren announced at the OU Board of Regents meeting Wednesday at the Health Sciences Center.
Effective this week, the amount of presidential study abroad scholarship funding was increased from $250,000 to $350,000, Boren said.
The increase in funding is part of OU's plan to increase participation in study abroad programs by 50 percent over the next four years, he said.
OU has about 1,000 students spending travel and study time abroad each year, with about 700 of those students participating in credit-earning international programs each year.
"We want to make sure that students have the opportunity to take advantage of this, so we will be increasing scholarship funds," Boren said Wednesday.
Study abroad experiences are important for students because they teach them about the global economy that they will no doubt enter after graduation, he said.
The deadline for summer study abroad programs is in March, and Boren said applications for the presidential scholarships will be available through early March.
"All our students are eligible to receive grants," he said.
Scholarship award amounts vary based on the individual students' needs, said Jay Doyle, press secretary and special assistant to Boren. They primarily fund the travel expenses to and from the country in which a student is studying abroad, he said.
The funds for scholarships come from private donations to the university scholarship drive and are earmarked for such programs as this, Doyle said.
OU has 174 student exchange agreements with universities in 66 countries. More than 1,500 students from over 100 countries are enrolled on OU's Norman campus this semester.
Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com
