Armenia has much to offer to U.S. students interested in studying abroad, attendees of a two-day workshop held by American Councils heard on Tuesday.  During the workshop, made possible by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of State’s recently-established U.S. Study Abroad office, speakers from American Councils and the U.S. Embassy emphasized that Armenia has the potential to attract greater numbers of U.S. students, and discussed with representatives of Armenian higher education institutions ways of expanding their marketing to the American audience.  U.S. students are increasingly looking for non-traditional destinations that offer unique experiences for short-term study related to their fields of interest, and Armenian higher education institutions have much to offer in these fields.

“The U.S. places great importance on study abroad programs and encourages American students to explore these opportunities for many reasons, said Public Affairs Officer Jacqueline Deley.  “First and foremost, study abroad promotes mutual understanding between people of different countries and the U.S. Americans studying abroad forge strong, life-long friendships with citizens and other foreign students in their host countries, and can appreciate the histories and cultures of other countries in ways that cannot be learned in books.  At the same time, by sharing American culture and values with host country friends and contacts, these students can be enormously effective citizen diplomats.  The U.S. and Armenia have been friends and partners for many years, and we believe that increased flows of exchange students between our two countries will strengthen our bilateral relationship even further. We hope that more American students will take advantage of study abroad opportunities in Armenia, to serve as ambassadors of goodwill, and to contribute to the mutual understanding and friendship between our two peoples and experience the many delights this country has to offer.”

The two-day workshop included sessions on U.S. study abroad trends, the value-added of academic exchanges, lessons learned from past U.S. student programs, and tips for communicating with U.S. audiences.  In the audience were higher education professionals from public and private institutions in Armenia and representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science.

The mission of the State Department’s U.S. Study Abroad Branch is to not only increase the number of Americans studying overseas, but also to promote diversity of students, fields of study, locations of study, and types of higher education institutions.