[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16230-16231]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  ABRAHAM LINCOLN STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM

  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I am honored to join Senator Durbin in 
introducing the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Act which focuses on the 
important issue of preparing future generations to live and work in an 
increasingly interconnected and complicated world. My colleague and I 
strongly believe that in order for the United States to effectively 
confront global challenges, to compete successfully in a global 
economy, and to lead responsibly in the world, we must dramatically 
increase the number of Americans gaining international experience 
through study abroad.
  In 2004, Congress recognized the value of study abroad when it formed 
the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program. 
The Commission issued a report in November 2005 calling for a national 
study abroad program to greatly increase and diversify the number of 
U.S. students participating in study abroad while at the same time 
addressing the institutional barriers which hinder many students from 
studying abroad. Again, the Senate recognized the significance of the 
study abroad experience when it declared 2006 as the ``Year of Study 
Abroad,'' and encouraged initiatives to promote and expand study abroad 
opportunities.
  With this legislation, my colleague and I move this important agenda 
one step further by sponsoring a bill that will change the country. It 
will enable our students to graduate with skills necessary to work 
effectively in today's global society by making study abroad an 
integral part of the undergraduate educational experience.
  Today, only 1 percent of all enrolled undergraduate students spend 
time living and studying abroad for academic credit. And only 
approximately one-third of those students chose to study in locations 
outside Western Europe, even though an estimated 95 percent of the 
world's population growth will occur outside that area in the next 50 
years. The percentages of minorities among individuals studying abroad 
are

[[Page 16231]]

extremely low, and underrepresentative of the numbers of those students 
in the general student population.
  Minnesota ranks third in the Nation for study abroad participation 
rates. During the 2003-2004 school year, 8073 students enrolled in 
Minnesotan colleges and universities studied abroad, which is a little 
less than 3 percent of the overall enrolled undergraduate student 
population in the State. I would like to see this number grow--study 
abroad opportunities will help make the next generation of Minnesotans 
and all Americans more competitive in the global marketplace.
  The reality of the global environment commands that far more of our 
students study abroad, regardless of their field of study, ethnicity, 
socio-economic status or gender, and that more of them study in 
nontraditional destinations. In order for graduates to be effective in 
the increasingly interconnected global society, they must better 
understand the broad world, not just a small part of it.
  Study abroad should become the norm, not the exception for U.S. 
college students. It can only be good for our campuses, our communities 
and our Nation to have more U.S. students understanding more about the 
rest of the world.

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