Have you considered studying abroad but don’t feel that you are ready to go out of the country yet? I’ve always dreamt of going to Spain to study Spanish and to experience the culture and scenery, but don’t think I’m quite at the point where I could handle being on another continent by myself. Thankfully, Towson is a participant in the National Student Exchange (NSE) Program. This program allows you to pay the same tuition you pay to Towson University, while attending another domestic school for up to a year. While you pay the same tuition you’re paying at Towson (scholarships you have at Towson still apply!), you have to pay room and board to the school you plan on attending, but many schools have room and board which end up costing less than Towson’s.
There are nearly 200 schools that participate in the program, and there are several schools in beautiful areas such as Hawaii, California, and the US Virgin Islands, and few schools in Canada to choose from as well! Due to their preferable climates, these are very popular destinations, so only a few students can be chosen to go to the locations with warm weather. I first heard of the program through an e-mail that I received in September and I’m glad I read it instead of deleting it. I attended an interest meeting with Towson’s NSE organizer, Kerica Henlon, and immediately had a few ideas of where I’d like to attend. As a political science major, I immediately knew I wanted to go to a school located in a large city where I could become acquainted with how the city felt in comparison to a city such as Baltimore.
University of Montreal is an NSE school!
There are several large schools on the list at NSE.org such as University of Georgia and Boise State University, so Towson students from Maryland could benefit from the program by paying in-state tuition while attending an out-of-state institution. Out-of-state students can also benefit if the cost of room and board of your desired school ends up costing less than what you pay here at Towson. I believe the program will offer me an awesome new point of view, since most of my experience of the U.S. has been limited to the Northeastern Seaboard.
If this program interests you at all, I highly suggest that you go to the NSE website and look at the participating schools to see if you fall in love with any of them. The deadline to apply for this program for Fall 2013 or receive priority for Spring 2014 is quickly approaching (February 28th), but you can still search for schools and keep the program in mind for Spring 2014 or Fall 2014 and apply at a later date. You can find all the requirements for applying to the program here!