Studying abroad is an enriching, rewarding, and expensive experience many students would love to participate in but are not able to, due to various reasons.

However, a new partnership between The University of North Carolina Asheville and North Carolina A&T will allow students to get the full study abroad experience right here in North Carolina.

Launching this fall, the NC A&T-UNC Asheville Exchange Program is a reciprocal exchange of students, whose purposes is to provide a culturally rich experience for participants and to increase the diversity of both of the institutions.

While both Universities have international study abroad programs, this opportunity will provide much needed exposure to different cultural experiences to numerous students who may not be able to afford the price tag with studying over seas. The Multicultural Student Center ant A&T and the Intercultural Center at UNC Asheville have collaborated to orchestrate this program.

“This will be an enriching opportunity for students to cross cultures, engage in a diverse environment and experience tremendous growth,” Lee Morgan, Associate Director for Student Development said.

Allegra Johnson, Study Abroad Program Coordinator for A&T’s Office of International Programs, said that a student can participate in a bi-lateral exchange program, where the student can pay their A&T tuition price, and take their study abroad experience where the U.S. dollar is strong, like Mexico, Canada, or Ghana.

It tends to only cost more, Johnson said, when a student wants to study abroad in a country where the dollar is not as strong, like Australia or a European country. Students that study abroad internationally also have to pay for their airfare and passports.

“A lot of it just depends on what the students are interested in doing,” Johnson said.

“Places like Turkey, Ghana and places where the cost of living is lower is typically when the student can pay the same amount.”

A&T students are always encouraged to broaden their horizons and explore different things to fully enhance their education, and for some students, coming to A&T was exactly that.

“All my life I have attended what I now understand to be majority white institutions and coming to A&T was a great experience for me,” senior nursing student Roterra Brown said. Brown grew up and went to school is Virginia. “This program would be great for students who have only been exposed to predominantly black institutions.”

Brown is not the only student that sees the benefit in experiencing a different culture. Alvin Black, National Pan-Hellenic Council President and a member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc. strongly encourages students to get out of their comfort zone.

“Get outside of the microcosm of black culture and immerse yourself in a new culture, succeed in and out of the classroom,” Black said.

“Don’t allow your background to prevent you from this experience to expand your network, net worth and horizon.”

UNC Asheville has often been known to offer one of the best public liberal arts educations in the country, with small class sizes and close contact with professors from freshman to senior-level students.

It offers 33 different degree programs, and the option to design their own major. Psychology, management, environmental studies, literature, language and history are some of the most known programs at UNC Asheville.

“Students will enjoy a smaller campus with tremendous impact,” Dr. Maria Palmer, Director of the Multicultural Student Center said. “They will gain confidence in their ability by succeeding in a new environment. Travel broadens and stretches an individual and exposes them to new experiences and ideas.”

For students who want to get a different experience, but not journey too far from home, this is a perfect opportunity.

Dean of Students, Dr. Judy Rashid, is excited about the program, and want students to take advantage of it.

“I was taught years ago: Travel Broadens,” Rashid said. “I would never expand if I didn’t travel and interact with people of different backgrounds. A mind stretched never returns to the same form, travel changes the mind.”

The Multicultural Student Center is located in Murphy Hall, suite 204, and can be reached via telephone at 336-334-7800. More details are available at www.msc-ncat.org.

• Dexter R. Mullins