America’s Black colleges want to internationalize their campuses and send their students abroad, but inadequate access to resources keeps many of these institutions restricted to U.S. shores, said a 2005 study by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO).
Though the numbers are improving, minority students, in general, comprise less than 10 percent of all American students studying abroad, according to the Institute for International Education, which crunches the numbers annually in their “Open Doors” report.
Historically Black college and universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs) face the same problems students encounter: a general lack of information.
At their “National Dialogue” conference in Washington, D.C., NAFEO organizers dedicated a day of events to strengthening ties between international education sectors and their member schools. Seeking improved collaboration and enhanced experiences for students of color, panelists presented opportunities for institutions to ramp up their campus globalization efforts.
Offering grants and opportunities to graduate students, Richard Everitt of the British Council said that, with additional financial support from the prime minister, the United Kingdom is looking to attract more Black students to its 80 member institutions.
At the Institute for International Public Policy (IIPP)—an offshoot of the United Negro College Fund Special Programs Unit—students begin a fellowship program that carries them through their study abroad experience into post-graduate work in the field of international relations.
IIPP Director Nicholas Bassey said, as sophomores, students begin their training and are required to learn a foreign language proficiently by graduation. A few of their graduates are now active in the Foreign Service, he said.
