Sample Press Release

For Release:         DATE
Contact: NAME, Institution, Number, Email
NAME, Lincoln Commission, ###, Email

{Name of School} Celebrates 2006 Year of Study Abroad
{Event} to Highlight Benefits of Strong International Education Programs

{Date, City, State}—{Name of School} students and faculty members are hosting {event} today to celebrate 2006 as the Year of Study Abroad. This event, hosted in concert with the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, is meant to call attention to the urgent need for more American students to be internationally educated.

Understanding the diverse cultures of the world, especially those of developing countries, should be an essential component of the 21st century education of our nation's students.
Broader global awareness among America's future leaders is critical to our country’s ability to generate effective U.S. foreign policy, experience greater security from terrorism and economic resilience in the increasingly competitive world of trade.

INFORMATION: ABOUT THE EVENT AND LOCAL STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS.

INSTITUTIONS: TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO DESCRIBE SOME OF YOUR BEST PROGRAMS, CITE AN EXAMPLE OF A POWERFUL STUDY ABROAD EXPERIENCE BY ONE OF YOUR STUDENTS

QUOTE : LOCAL UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT, PROGRAM DIRECTOR AND/OR STUDENT
LEADER EXPRESSING, IN STRONG TERMS, THE SCHOOL’S COMMITMENT TO STUDY ABROAD AND THE NEED TO DO MORE.

The United States Senate has established 2006 as the Year of Study Abroad.  About 191,000 undergraduates studied abroad during the 2003-04 academic year, a number that represents just over one percent of total enrolled American college students.   The Lincoln Commission recently urged the U.S. Government and higher education to work together to dramatically increase these numbers, calling for one million students to be studying abroad in the next 10 years. The report Global Competence and National Needs: One Million Students Studying Abroad recommends creation of a national competition for study abroad fellowships and grants that would provide scholarships and financial assistance to students studying abroad and emphasize diversification of destinations, institutions and participant demographics, more closely mirroring those of the nation’s entire student body.

“Study abroad is no longer a luxury.  For students, and the American workforce, to be competitive in the global marketplace, they need experience living in and working with different cultures,” said Peter McPherson, chair of the Lincoln Commission and president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. “Strong study abroad programs are vital to our economic competitiveness, international diplomacy, and national security.”

“One of the essential components of education for developing global competence is a high quality study abroad experience.”  William B. DeLauder, President Emeritus, Delaware State University, Executive Director, Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program.

INSERT A PARAGRAPH NOTING INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THE STATE AND LOCAL INSTITUTIONS ARE DOING TO MEET CONGRESSIONAL COMMISSION GOALS AND, THEREBY, DEMONSTRATE COMMITMENT TO DEALING WITH BARRIERS IN THE INTEREST OF SUSTAINED GROWTH IN STUDY ABROAD

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For more general information, resources and state-by state statistics about study abroad, visit www.yearofstudyabroad.org, www.nafsa.org, or www.iie.org. 

For more information on the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, or to download the report Global Competence and National Needs: One Million Students Studying Abroad, please visit www.lincolncommission.org.