Three Elmhurst College students have been awarded scholarships to study abroad this fall through a program designed to increase the number and diversity of students pursuing programs internationally.
Sara Wojtasik, a junior from Melrose Park who is majoring in English and secondary education, will attend the Middlebury College-CMRS Oxford Humanities Program in Oxford, England. Senior Ryan DeSalvo, a nursing student from Villa Park, will study at University College Dublin in Ireland; and Diana Puga, a senior from Melrose Park who is majoring in intercultural studies and political science, will spend the fall semester studying in Amsterdam.
Each will receive a $2,500 scholarship through the Institute of International Education’s Generation Study Abroad initiative. The Institute of International Education, or IIE, awarded grants to Elmhurst College and 13 other colleges and universities, which then matched the grants and chose the scholars. Elmhurst will award three more scholarships during the 2016–2017 school year, said Alice Niziolek, director of international education and off-campus programs for the College.
According to the IIE, fewer than 10 percent of American college students study abroad.
“All college students need international educational and work experience in order to compete and thrive in a global workforce,” said Allan E. Goodman, IIE’s president and CEO, in a statement. “But students need financial resources to go abroad. That’s why IIE is dedicated to supporting its Generation Study Abroad partners’ goals to provide more students with international education opportunities.”