Studyabroad.com

Studyabroad.com provides a resource for students that want to continue their education overseas. A number of different programs are available, including academic/semester programs, summer, intern, volunteer, high school, language, and teach abroad programs. Programs can be selected from around 156 countries.

Studyabroad.com also offers programs of study at sea, and programs across a number of different countries. Studyabroad.com offers practical advice as well, like tips on travel essentials. Information on providers of related services, like insurance, air travel, financial aid, communications, housing, identification requirements is available on studyabroad.com, along with some general hints about each category of service.

Studyabroad.com acts as a hub for everything to do with studying abroad, from the countries that you can study in and the programs of study each country supports, to practical advice and recommendations to support you when you are organising your studies abroad.

Studyabroad.com utilises a search system which allows programs of study to be found by searching under subject, country, or type of program. The search tool can refine a search by subject, term, or country, so the providers of study programs can be whittled down to a more manageable selection. For each country, studyabroad.com provides general information about the country itself; history, lifestyle, food, cities, as well as information relevant to selecting programs of study. For countries that are popular destinations for studying abroad, such as India, Studyabroad.com provides general information on the strong areas of each country in terms of educational attainment, and how students from that country have been employed in the United States. For every country, a relevant selection of information to help you make your choice is available.

The studyabroad.com marketplace is categorised along six broad lines; insurance, financial aid, stay connected, travel services, travel gear, and travel identification. Each category includes practical information to help make decisions about arrangements for studying abroad, and provides links to a number of relevant service providers. For example, travel services, includes information on housing, and travel by air, rail or car. Of course, country specific information can be obtained from the general guides provided on specific country pages by studyabroad.com. in addition to the marketplace, studyabroad.com provides a detailed handbook for parents and for students alike. The student handbook covers the specific details around selection of the most suitable program and country for studying abroad, preparation and planning for your study program, as well as preparation for returning home.

The home page of studyabroad.com includes featured service providers, as do each of the pages linked from the different types of program available. Studyabroad.com either provides a direct link to a service provider, or contact details. Wherever a service provider is featured as the result of a search, general information about that service provider is provided on the page. For instance, if a search is carried out on volunteer study abroad opportunities in Guatemala, 11 programs are found. For each program, studyabroad.com provides information that includes contact details, where the program is, when the program is available, an overview of the program that covers the program purpose or mission, the setting of the program and the value of the program.

As well as academic / semester study programs, and summer programs, studyabroad.com offers internship and volunteer opportunities. Internships and volunteering provide opportunities for adding to your study experience by getting real-life experience while you are studying abroad. Some of the volunteering opportunities also include accommodation and travel. The language programs featured by studyabroad.com provide the opportunity to learn a foreign language overseas, at the same time as being able to practice language skills conversationally with the locals. Studyabroad.com also features opportunities for teaching abroad. Many of the teaching abroad programs are based on teaching the English language to non-English speakers. Some of the featured programs require formal teaching qualifications and some do not. Some of the teaching abroad programs offer a qualification as part of the program.

As well as the content on programs and countries, studyabroad.com provides a number of mediums that give a real insight into the practical experience of studying abroad. The blog section of studyabroad.com provides an insight into the lives of several real life students who are currently studying abroad. The students write about their experiences and feelings during their time studying abroad. The blogs can be read as an ongoing diary, or searched by using the provided tags, which include ‘decisions’, ‘choosing to study abroad’, and ‘travel’. Studyabroad.com also publishes an RSS feed of the headline articles on the blog pages. Studyabroad.com also offers subscription to a newsletter which provides current articles and advertisements of interest to people wanting to study or teach abroad. The newsletter features a specific country and language in each issue. Another avenue of accessing information about studying abroad provided by studyabroad.com is Facebook. The studyabroad.com Facebook pages provide a forum for students that are studying abroad to find information, to post their questions, or join a discussion by posting their own thoughts and experiences. A poll is included on the Facebook page as are photos and an RSS feed from the blog section of studyabroad.com.

Studyabroad.com provides a one-stop shop for all things related to studying (or teaching) abroad. Both the practical aspects of studying abroad, including how to select the program and country best suited to your needs, and advice on arranging travel, housing and financial support, and information about specific countries and programs is provided, and searchable. Studyabroad.com gives you the potential to select from around 156 countries, or to study at sea, or study across a number of different countries. Available programs on studyabroad.com include not only academic programs, but also summer programs and high school programs. To add to the experience of studying abroad, studyabroad.com also provides access to internship and volunteering opportunities, as well as opportunities to teach abroad. Again, all of this information is searchable, and cross-referenced, to allow the searcher to locate the program best suited to their needs.