UW-Eau Claire ranks among top universities in study abroad participation

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire students’ participation in study abroad programs is among the highest in the nation for master’s-level colleges and universities, according to the 2023 Open Doors Report of the Institute of International Education.

In the ranking based on 2021-22 study abroad statistics, 254 UW-Eau Claire students studied abroad, ranking the university 15th in the country among public and private master’s-level schools.

UW-Eau Claire is the top-ranked master’s-level university in Wisconsin and Minnesota in the survey.

UW-Eau Claire is ranked 17th in the master’s-level category for mid-length duration programs (a quarter or semester) studying abroad, with 99 students. The university is 20th in the country in the short-term category, with 156 students participating.

Colleen Marchwick, director, Center for International Education

Colleen Marchwick, director of UW-Eau Claire’s Center for International Education, was ecstatic that the university again was ranked as a leading master’s-level institution for study abroad participation.

“This acknowledgement is especially meaningful given the numbers are based on 2021-22, which still was impacted by COVID-19 travel restrictions,” Marchwick says. “Many of the students who studied abroad this year represent the power of resilience; they didn’t relinquish their study abroad goal even when faced with challenges.”

Marchwick hopes to see UW-Eau Claire’s statistics continue to grow “given the many academic and professional benefits of study abroad.”

UW-Eau Claire has study abroad programs in more than 30 countries, with Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy and Costa Rica the most popular in 2021-22.

Elise Tipcke, a double major in nursing and Spanish who will graduate Dec. 16, studied abroad for five months in Valladolid, Spain, in spring 2022 and later participated in a two-week faculty-led immersion to Guatemala.

“Studying abroad changed me,” Tipcke says. “I know everybody says that you come back a changed person, but it is so true. I think your worldview is so open and you learn so many things about yourself and about other cultures while you are there.”