International Education Week – 2016

iew2016
The College of Design, Construction and Planning (DCP) is honored to once again participate in International Education Week 2016. A joint initiative of the US Departments of State and Education, International Education Week (IEW) was first held in 2000 and today, is celebrated in more than 100 countries worldwide.  A central mission of DCP is to sustain a broad range of international settings for students and faculty to support Learning, Discovery and Engagement.

We now have programs and partnerships with institutions of higher learning on every continent except Antarctica-two of which, (The Preservation Institute: Caribbean-(1983) and the Vicenza Institute of Architecture-(1985) are among the longest continually running international programs on the UF campus. The 2015 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, shows the number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased by 10% to a record high of 974,926 students in the 2014/15 academic year, while U.S. students studying abroad increased by 5.2% percent to an all-time high of more than 304,467 (more facts can be found at the Institute of International Education:  http://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors).

In Fall of 2014, new international student enrollment increased by 8.5% over 2013, with most of the growth driven by China and India. This marks the ninth consecutive year that Open Doors reported expansion in the total number of international students in U.S. higher education. There are now 40 percent more international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities than a decade ago, and the rate of increase has risen steadily for the past three years. International students make up about five percent of total student enrollment at the graduate and undergraduate level combined. International students’ spending in all 50 states contributed approximately $30.5 billion to the U.S. economy. In Florida, one of the top 10 destinations for international students in the US, that share is estimated at over $1 billion dollars (2013-2014).

The number of U.S. students who studied abroad for academic credit increased by 5.2% to 304,467 students in 2013 /14. Study abroad by American students has more than tripled over the past two decades, from approximately 71,000 students in 1991 /92 to the record number in 2014 /15. Despite these increases, fewer than 10 percent of all U.S. college students study abroad at some point during their undergraduate years.

We share Secretary of State John Kerry’s position to “make study abroad, whether it’s in person or even virtual, to make it a reality for all students, regardless of their socio-economic background or field of study”. As we begin the third year of the “Learning without Borders” Quality Enhancement Plan, we are pleased to note that the new International Scholars Program has enrolled hundreds of students representing every one of UF’s undergraduate colleges. UF is home to over 6,500 international students from more than 140 countries. We host over 2,200 visiting scholars every year, and more than 2,100 of our students travel abroad to more than 70 destinations annually. On any given day, year-round, UF faculty and staff from all parts of the university can be found across the globe, carrying out research, participating in conferences and workshops, or teaching.  Some 2,000 UF faculty and staff have international roots or background themselves, including many who were born and educated abroad, and who bring international dimensions to their job and into our classrooms and laboratories every day.
Some of our units like the School of Architecture are already providing about 70-80% of their students with this opportunity. DCP has agreements with over 25 top universities around the world such as Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, National University of Singapore, University of Hong Kong, University of Indonesia and University of Groningen, operates 12 study abroad programs in 6 disciplines conducted by DCP faculty with our partner institutions (more information can be found at https://dcp.ufl.edu/dcp-global/study-abroad/). We also take pride in attracting increasing numbers of international students to begin their studies in one of the College’s 6 disciplines or gain advanced knowledge in these fields at the PhD level or as visiting scholars.

For more information about UF Events during International Education Week, visit: http://ufic.ufl.edu/PD/IEW.html

Scroll to Top