Mission Statement

Education Abroad provides international, academically-based experiences in support of students’ personal, professional and intellectual development.  Our programs are designed to promote cross cultural competence, disciplinary scholarship and foreign language acquisition.  Education Abroad inspires and informs students, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to effectively engage with local and global communities and become culturally perceptive citizens.  These outcomes are cultivated and sustained by: 

• Identifying and developing safe, affordable, academically rigorous, geographically diverse, culturally challenging and transforming study abroad programs across a wide range of disciplines
• Advising students in the selection of suitable programs
• Preparing students to maximize learning opportunities before they depart, while abroad, and upon their return
• Administering high-quality study abroad programs in partnership with UM faculty and staff and colleagues from other institutions and organizations
  
• Integrating study abroad with campus curriculum, programs and activities
• Increasing participation and providing access for all students, including those traditionally underrepresented in study abroad
  
• Advocating for international education to enrich UMD’s institutional identity