Decades in Study Abroad

A leader for over 50 years in study abroad, it all started on the saddle of a bicycle, for $2 a day.

In the summer of 1948, the world looked ahead to a brighter future. Gone was the extreme cataclysm and privation of the Second World War, but deep scars remained for the nations of Europe and their people.

As the cooperative spirit of educational exchange between nations was all but nonexistent, a Beaver College economics instructor, his wife, and seventeen undergraduate women arrived in post-WWII Europe. The group sailed from New York to Southampton, England, on a mission of education and discovery of post-war rebuilding efforts, which would carry this determined cohort through a summer’s worth of adventures. Cycling through England, Belgium, and France, in weathers both benign and challenging, they learned much more than they ever anticipated.

This post-WWII cohort was the precursor to what would be one of the largest and most renowned international study programs in the United States. Arcadia University is now ranked as a leader in study abroad and is one of the leading providers in international education. The institute of International Education’s (IIE) Open Doors Report ranks Arcadia nationally for the percentage of undergraduate students participating in a study abroad experience. Additionally, Arcadia was shortlisted by US News & World Report for study abroad participation.

The College of Global Studies at Arcadia University is the first College of its kind dedicated to the delivery and development of education abroad. Nearly 3,000 students from over 300 colleges and universities participate in the University’s programs abroad each year. Arcadia continuously strives to provide the highest level of support and service to its program participants wherever they are in the world.