Too few students abroad

Alarming statistics. Too few Oregon University System students are studying abroad. And those that do are not studying in the countries most important for our economic and security future. Data from the report Enrollment by OUS Students in Study Abroad Programs, 2003-04 show that of 1,877 Oregon University System students who studied abroad (2.25% of the total enrollment of 79,558) only 35 studied abroad in China (1.86% of students studying abroad and 0.044% of total enrollment). Looking further at several of the large, rapidly developing countries, the data is worse. 3 students studied aboard in Brazil, 1 in India, and 6 in Russia. Looking to other Asian countries, 161 students studied abroad in Japan, 1 in Mongolia, 1 in Nepal, and 28 in Thailand. Additional Asian counties, such as Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines are not listed.