High School Study
Abroad Scholarship Program
Proposal Revised
3/22/08
By
Dave Porter
General Proposal:
This is the conceptual outline of a scholarship program that
could send many more Oregon high school students to study abroad. It is drafted for purposes of discussion
and further development, so please send comments.
The scholarship program proposal would consist of three related legislative bills proposed for
the Oregon 2009 legislative session. The first would permits local school
districts to use the funds they get from the state and any other public or
private funds to give scholarships to high school students to study abroad. The
bill would also authorize local school districts to receive state funding the
same as in district students for students studying abroad under a qualified
scholarship from the local school district (students studying abroad can be
claimed for ADM). The second would adjust or waive graduation requirement for
students who study abroad for a full academic year so that they do not need to
do an additional year of high school to graduate. And the third bill would fund
a state level high school study abroad scholarship program that could augment
school districts level scholarship for students studying “critical need
languages.”
General Background:
(1) There
are existing academic-year-long study abroad programs that cost less than the
per pupil spending in many Oregon school districts. For examples, using data from the Oregon Department of
Education’s Open Book website for a recent year, Portland’s per pupil spending
was $9,442, Salem-Keizer’s was $8,288, Beaverton’s was $7,607 , Hillsboro’s was
$7,499 , and Eugene’s was $8,440. Portland based
Education, Travel and Culture offers academic year abroad programs with fees
ranging from to $5,500 to $7,950, not including airfare, from countries ranging
from Brazil to Sweden.
China
is $6,950 (plus airfare) for an academic year. Portland based Andeo offers an academic year in Mexico for $6,000 plus airfare.
There are many other study abroad programs currently existing and others could
be created specifically to use this funding. So for little or no additional
costs, Oregon
could have many more high school students studying abroad. Some school district
could save money by sending students to study abroad.
(2) There
is a national organization, the Council for Standards on International
Educational Travel (CSIET) that “identifies reputable international youth
exchange programs.” So, to be eligible for public funding, the basic list of eligible
study abroad program could be those listed with this CSIET. There could be
provisions for each school district or the Oregon Department of Education to
approve additional programs.
Basic study
abroad scholarship program:
Tentative
provisions of bill authorizing school districts to pay and receive public funds
for study abroad scholarships:
(1) School
districts are permitted to use the
funds they get from the state and any other public or private funds to give
scholarships to high school students for payment of study abroad expenses.
(2) Parents and students may pay part of the
study abroad expenses.
(3) Other organizations, such as the Rotary or
foundations, may pay part of the study abroad expenses.
(4) If
the school district has paid at least 90% of the per student allocation from
the State of Oregon as a study abroad scholarship for a specific student, that
student will count for purposes of the state allocation of funds the same as if
the student were present in district. (For example, if the state pays $6,200
per student to each school district, then any student receiving a study aboard
scholarship of at least $5,580 (90% of
$6,200) shall be counted as present in the district for purposes of the
allocation of state funds.)
(5) Selection
of the study abroad program shall be the responsibility of the parents and
student. However, the school district must approve the specific study abroad
program ahead of time. The state and school district shall have no liability
for any aspect of the study abroad program.
(6) Scholarship can be used for any associated
expenses such as tuition, transportation, room & board, books, etc., and
not limited to tuition.
(7) Students
may attend a variety of study abroad options including foreign high schools and
foreign language only schools. Foreign school setting may be public or private.
(8) The
study abroad program must take place in the language of the country in which
the study abroad takes place.
(9) Students must live in an immersion setting,
that is to say they must live with foreign families or in foreign student
settings where only the foreign language is spoken.
(10)Study abroad students may go to English speaking counties.
(11) School districts may restrict their study abroad programs to
specific languages or countries.
(12) Students must be fluent in English to be eligible.
(13) At least one parent of a student must approve the study abroad
program if the student is less than 18.
(14) Payment can go either to the student’s parent or directly to
an organization
providing
the study abroad program.
(15) To be eligible a student must
have been enrolled in an Oregon public school for a full academic
year immediately prior to going on a study abroad scholarship.
Adjusting or
waiving graduations requirements for students studying abroad
Currently students studying abroad are granted credit for
specific courses towards graduation requirements at the discretion/judgment of
their high school (usually a counselor). For students whose foreign language
fluency is such that they will take courses in a foreign high school, this
system can continue or such student may also waive the 1.0 credit for Global
Studies, 1.0 credit for English, 1.0 science credit and 1.0 math credit from
their graduation requirements. For students who may not be in regular foreign
high school classes or who may or may not be in a regular foreign high school,
but study only the foreign language for four hours or more a day (5 days a
week) in whatever setting, they should be given 4.0 credits for foreign
language study, 1.0 credits for Global Studies, and 1.0 credits for English,
plus one year of math and science each should be waived from their graduation
requirements.
State level funding for scholarships for “critical need
languages:”
The Oregon Department of Education would be allocated
$500,000 for high school study abroad scholarships for “critical need
languages.” Each scholarship would be for $3,000 for an academic year abroad.
50 in first year of biennium ($150,000). 100 in the second year of the biennium
($300,000). Plus $50,000 allocated to the Department of Education for administration.
The intent is to give incentives for the most needed languages and to increase
the opportunity of low income students to participate in the high school study
abroad program. Only students also receiving a study abroad scholarship from a
school district would be eligible. Only study of “critical need languages”
eligible. The current national list of “critical need languages” includes:
Arabic, Azeri (Azerbiajan), Bengali (Bangladesh and part of India), Chinese
(Mandarin only), Farsi (Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan), Gujarati (state of
Gujarat in India), Hindi (northern and central India), Korean, Marathi (western
India), Pashto (parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan), Punjabi (parts of India and
Pakistan), Russian, Tajik (Tajikistan and parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Uzbekistan and China), Turkish, Urdu (Pakistan, similar to Hindi), and Uzbek
(Uzbekistan).
Website links:
(1) Department of
Education’s Open Book: http://www.openbooksproject.org/district.aspx.
(2) Education, Travel and Culture: http://www.edutrav.org/study-fees.asp.
(3) Andeo: http://www.andeo.org/html/mexico2.html.
(4) Council for Standards
on International Educational Travel (CSIET): http://www.csiet.org/mc/page.do.
(5) For info on “critical
need languages” see http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/58733.htm
and http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:JZy9pFCJqD8J:us.fulbrightonline.org/documents/fulbright_language.doc+critical+language+initiative&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us&client=firefox-a