New program will help CCU students to study abroad

A new grant from the Horry County Higher Education Commission will allow local students attending Coastal Carolina University to study abroad.

According to a press release, the $20,000 annual grant, called the Horry County Higher Education Commission International Awareness Award, will become available to students for the spring 2010 semester.

The awards will be given in increments of $1,000 to $2,000 to qualified new freshmen and transfer students, as well as continuing Coastal Carolina University students.

To be eligible, students must have graduated from an accredited high school in Horry County and must be enrolled full-time at Coastal Carolina University.

The award money will go toward one of 14 short-term study abroad programs sponsored by the University, or it may be used to study abroad for a semester or year at a CCU partner institution internationally.

The University currently has partner institutions in Germany, England, Australia, Japan, Ecuador, France and China.

The program was initiated to increase the number of Horry County high school graduates who participate in foreign travel study. 

Local students have been underrepresented as a percentage of Coastal Carolina University students who have study-abroad experiences, according to Darla Domke-Damonte, assistant dean for international programs in CCU’s E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration and executive director of global initiatives at Coastal Carolina University.

For the past two years, although Horry County students composed 25.2 percent of the total undergraduate student population at the University, they represented only 14.8 percent of CCU students who participated in study-abroad programs.

“Studying abroad changed my view of the world and enhanced my appreciation of my own country,” says Domke-Damonte. “Without the financial support of the local community in my hometown of Plainview, Minn., I couldn’t have afforded to participate. Through this initiative sponsored by the Horry County Higher Education Commission, many local students will have this eye-opening opportunity.” 

The deadline for continuing CCU students to apply for Spring and Summer 2010 programs is Nov. 6.  The deadline to apply for 2010-2011 academic year semester or yearlong study-abroad programs is March 1, 2010.