Texas Global launched a new program on 13 November called “Take the World by the Horns”, which creates a new study abroad opportunity for “first-generation college students”.
The program, created through Texas Global’s collaboration with the Office of Admissions, allows incoming freshmen to begin their studies as a Longhorn alongside 20-25 classmates in one of three locations: Seoul, South Korea; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Panama City, Panama.
Sonia Feigenbaum, senior vice provost and chief international officer for global engagement, said the idea for the programme began as a response to prospective students taking a gap year after high school graduation and the decline in foreign language study among undergraduates in the United States.
“We are very fortunate at UT-Austin to have outstanding students who are curious (and) not afraid to try new things, to broaden their horizons,” Feigenbaum said. “I thought, ‘What’s better than looking at Panama and doing a course with Spanish immersion and culture? What about Korea? Denmark?'”
Feigenbaum said President Jay Hartzell’s 2022 strategic plan for the university focuses on research areas in energy and the environment, technology and society, and health and wellness, which influenced the selection of these three locations.
“Identifying sites that complement these areas of study was fundamental, and I think the international exposure in this area is extremely unique,” said Thomas Ward, director of Education Abroad.
In addition to language courses, Feigenbaum said students on the programme will be enrolled in 12 hours of coursework and hands-on activities and opportunities at partner universities, including Hanyang University in South Korea, the School for International Training in Panama and the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Copenhagen, where current faculty and alumni are engaged in research.
“We have a very robust alumni group … (who) are also very excited,” Feigenbaum said. “It looks at internationalisation from the perspective that you’re going to be abroad, you’re going to be learning, but you’re going to be part of a broader Longhorn community.”
Since the programme was announced, Ward said the admissions office has received about 10,000 applications expressing interest. Jason Xie, a high school senior from Dallas, said her decision to indicate interest in the program on her UT admissions application came from a long-held desire to study abroad.
“My parents immigrated here, and I’ve been educated in the U.S. all my life, but when I heard them talk about their experiences in college, … both in China and here, I wanted to see what the difference was between studying in the U.S. (and another country),” Jason said.
With plans to expand the programme in the coming years, Feigenbaum and Ward said they are excited to see their ideas come to life and learn from their first experience next autumn.
“Life is all about learning, so we’re going to learn, but we’re bringing our expertise, infrastructure, academics and everything you can think of to our respective inaugural cohorts,” Feigenbaum said.
