Illinois State tells students to head abroad
NORMAL - Over the next five years Illinois State University hopes to double the number of its students who study abroad.
Rita Bailey is assistant provost at the university in Normal. She told The Pantagraph in Bloomington that graduates increasingly need to be able to work with a global workforce. She said spending time outside the United States will help those students.
Now about 400 Illinois State students head outside the country each year. About 9 percent of each graduating class at Illinois State now has experience studying outside the United States.
The university's Office of International Studies and Programs says a semester abroad can cost anywhere from $7,500 to $21,000. The average in-state student spends about $13,200 a semester on the Normal campus.