The commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, spawned from the ideas of late Illinois Senator Paul Simon, recently asked for $50 million annually in federal funds to send American undergraduate students abroad. The program’s goal is to have 1 million students from the United States studying abroad by 2017.

William DeLauder, the Commission’s executive director, said Simon was a long-time proponent for understanding the rest of the world, and his death provoked a movement to create legislation for study abroad funding.

“He thought we did not have a good understanding of the rest of the world, particularly the non-western world,” DeLauder said. “He wanted to better educate future generations of Americans by giving them international experience and a broader understanding of the rest of the world.”

Although Congress has yet to approve money, Jeremy Geller, director of the University Study Abroad Office, has high hopes for the effect it will have on American students’ ability to take classes in a foreign country.

“The $50 million would spread the benefit around not only to Illinois students, but to those at small institutions without all the programs and structures that Illinois has,” Geller said. “It’s going to greatly expand the number of students studying abroad.”

The commission is “guardedly optimistic” about Congress allocating the funds, but DeLauder expects an indication of Congress’ decision by next fall.

“The commission is currently involved with other associations in Washington and talking with members of the legislature,” DeLauder said. “The commission is not permitted to lobby because we are a public body supported by public money.”

The commission’s report calls for $50 million from the federal government to launch the program in the 2007-2008 academic year. According to the report, the goal is 1 million students studying abroad by the 2016-2017 academic year. The federal government must increase funding to $75 million for the 2009-2010 academic year, $100 million the year after that and cap out at $125 million for 2011-2012 and the years following.

The funding, DeLauder explained, would be divided into two parts: institutional grants that accredited two- and four-year institutions would administer based on their own selections, and fellowships to individual students which could be applied for by any student at an accredited institution.

The University is a conspicuous institution, Geller said, because of the six federally-funded area studies centers that the University operates around the world. Although the funds allocated for these centers are predominantly for programs and research as opposed to scholarships, Geller said University students are already very successful at competing for federal money to study abroad.

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program is administered through the U.S. Department of State and is the only direct fellowship program currently sponsored by the federal government. However, awards are only allocated to students who are eligible for a Federal Pell Grant.

The awards given by the commission would be available to students in all academic disciplines. DeLauder said it would increase the program’s effectiveness to grant money to students with financial need in order to achieve the 1 million student goal.

“When the program is put in place and a decision is made about who will administer the program, guidelines will be laid out about which students will be selected,” DeLauder said. “It will be merit-based, but if a student doesn’t have a financial need, we don’t think we should be spending money on those students.”

The commission’s report presents a goal of 1 million students studying abroad by 2017, with 50% of graduating seniors having studied abroad. Close to 2,000 University students are currently studying abroad, Geller said. He explained the percentage is usually measured as a function of the graduating class, equaling about 25%, and the percentage of study abroad students is high when taking into account the size of the University.

Kim Kruzynski, a junior in Business, recently embarked on a semester-long trip to Grenada, Spain in pursuit of a Spanish minor. Through e-mail, she said she took advantage of the opportunity to study abroad because she did not think it was a chance she would have beyond college.

“Through my two weeks in being here, I’ve already started to appreciate the things that I take for granted when I’m back home,” she said. “Oftentimes you have to experience something hands-on in order to truly learn it. By living in Spain for four months, with another family, eating their food, and interacting with their people, you obviously learn so much more than you would hearing about it in the classroom.”

Kruzynski has experienced what DeLauder said students gain from their education overseas. Not only does studying abroad position students to be leaders and contribute to their own future endeavors, but they are also serving to help foreigners understand Americans.

“Exposing people from other countries to Americans gives them a better understanding of who we are and what we believe in,” DeLauder said. “The students also get a better understanding of themselves and their own culture and a renewed appreciation for that, as well as a better understanding of the differences.”