Good news:

Record numbers of American students are studying abroad, with especially strong growth in educational exchanges with China, the annual report by the Institute on International Education found.

[...]

Over all, 241,791 Americans studied abroad in 2006-7, the report said, with sharp increases in the numbers going to Argentina, South Africa, Ecuador and India, and declining numbers going to Australia and Costa Rica.

If I was supreme dictator of the United States, and had unlimited funds, I would require every college student to spend a semester abroad, with an emphasis on countries outside of Western Europe. I loved studying in Russia and the UK, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

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