Graduate study abroad experiences can be an invaluable addition to your degree, while simultaneously challenging your worldview and broadening your perspective. By living and studying in another country, you’ll get to see how different cultures view life, work, religion, etc. Your new understanding will have lasting benefits on your career, family life and friendships – both now and well into the future.
Graduate students participating in study abroad programs can gain unique perspectives in their field, strengthen foreign language abilities and make lifelong friends. Furthermore, they will have to navigate a foreign culture while adapting to its many challenges (for instance learning how to shop at foreign supermarkets or communicating with professors/peers who speak different languages). Such experiences help develop flexibility, resilience, and adaptability that employers look for in employees.
Graduate study abroad is becoming more accessible than ever. Universities around the world now offer English-language programs, and your financial aid may often apply towards an overseas program. Furthermore, international programs typically cost less than master’s and Ph.D. degrees in the U.S.
However, graduate study abroad is an immense commitment that takes much planning and may involve financial obstacles that must be cleared in order to complete your chosen program.