As the Study Abroad program is seeing low enrollment for the Regensburg, Germany excursion planned for the fall semester, they are forced to push back the application deadline.
Last fall, 18 students were accepted by the Study Abroad office to go on the Regensburg trip. So far, they have only accepted nine applicants for this fall and are currently considering five more applications.
The application deadline was originally set for Feb. 15, but a low number of applications forced Study Abroad to extend the deadline by a month to March 15.
Although earlier in the semester they feared cancelation of the program, Study Abroad confirms the deadline extension to Friday has allowed the program to continue, and there is no need for cancelation.
Melanie McCallon, associate director of education abroad, said the low enrollment is not entirely untypical.
“We have had enrollment as low as six for this program and as high as 25 and literally everything in between.” McCallon said. “There is really an ebb and flow with study abroad and it depends on the given year as to what students are looking for.”
McCallon also said, although they are seeing lower enrollment in that course, they are in turn seeing higher enrollment in advanced language courses.
Regensburg is a city of 130,000 people in the German state of Bavaria. Students who attend the trip abroad will be studying at the University of Regensburg, a comprehensive university of 18,000 students, where they will also live in the university housing.
All students who make the trip to Regensburg must take at least 12 credit hours, including one German language course and GER 105, German culture. Every course, except German language, will be taught in English.
In addition to being able to travel extensively throughout Europe independently, students will also be taken on two group excursions, which are included in the program fee.
To encourage more students to take advantage of the extended deadline, McCallon highlighted more benefits to studying in Regensburg.
“This is an excellent opportunity for students to get a whole semester credit of University studies,” McCallon said. “Many of the other study abroad options are more independent and are not going to be with Murray State faculty. The trip to Regensburg will be with faculty members, and some students want that, so this is a great opportunity for students to get that longer program and still be with the comfort of their own faculty member.”
She said it is also a very affordable program for students as they will be paying as much as they would for a semester on Murray State’s campus, including meals and housing costs.
For Kentucky residents the program fee totals $8,064 per semester, which includes the $4,600 in-program fees. These fees exclude airfare, passport fees, personal spending money and other personal items.
Story by Alex Berg, Staff writer.