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Supporting Your Student

We encourage you to support your student by empowering them to be actively responsible for preparing for their education abroad experience.

Education abroad can benefit your student's personal growth, professional development, and academic goals. Therefore, it is never too early to start planning. The process has multiple, important phases. Each student is unique and no two will navigate these phases in the same way. The five major phases of the process are outlined below.

1. When they express interest in studying abroad…

There are several ways for students to explore opportunities and find a program that fits their goals.

  • First Steps Workshops: Have your student attend a First Steps Workshop to learn what it means to study abroad and learn about the factors to consider when selecting a program. Your student can also contact an Illinois Abroad Ambassador, who are current students who have studied abroad, to learn about the process and ask questions about their time abroad.
  • Advising: Students with general questions about the study abroad process can contact their college study abroad office. We also encourage students to meet with their academic advisor to discuss how studying abroad will fit within their plan of study. Both of these resources can help your student identify their goals for study abroad.
  • Program Search: The university uses an online platform called “My Study Abroad” to house program brochure pages and process applications. Encourage your student to narrow their search by experimenting with the search parameters and finding programs that align with their personal, academic, and professional goals.
  • Meet with study abroad staff: Once your student has a few programs of interest, encourage them to scheduling an appointment with a study abroad staff member who advises for those programs to answer their specific questions about each program.
  • Financial Aid and Scholarships: Encourage your student to understand their finances by meeting with the Office of Student Financial Aid and exploring scholarship opportunities. The Office of Student Financial Aid can help students understand how their financial aid package applies to study abroad.

2. When they apply…

Pre-decision

Application requirements will vary depending on the program. The standard requirements will be responses to short answer questions, an University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign transcript, a photocopy of your student's passport (or proof that they have applied for one), and a disciplinary action questionnaire. Encourage your student to make sure that their passport is valid six months beyond their return date.

Post-decision

Throughout the application process, information will be sent to your student from a variety of sources, including our staff, other universiity faculty and staff, and the institution where they are enrolling. Please encourage your student to review any and all correspondence carefully and meet all deadlines.

3. When they are traveling to their host country…

As your student prepares to depart, ensure that you have a copy of their itinerary. Airline websites often offer tools to track the flights. Upon arrival, students may not be able to call or email home immediately as they may be greeted by the program representatives, on their way to their accommodations, or may not have access to internet or a phone. Most students are able to stay in close contact throughout the program, however, certain locations may make this more challenging. We encourage you and your student to research the most affordable and reliable ways stay in contact with each other and create a plan as to when and how often they will communicate with you. Due to FERPA regulations, we will not be able to provide parents with flight information.

4. When they are abroad…

Being abroad will be an adjustment for most students as they will be experiencing a new location, new culture, and perhaps a new language. All students are susceptible to varying levels of culture shock, regardless personality type, previous travel experience abroad or knowledge of their host country. This feeling of culture shock is a normal part of the study abroad process.

It is more likely that a student will call or email family or friends during a moment of low morale rather than when things are going well. Support your student through these stages by encouraging them to utilize the online university resources as seen on the Resources page.

5. When they return…

Returning to their home country can often be as challenging as departing from it. It may take your student time to re-adjust and they may experience "reverse culture shock" as they re-acquaint themselves with their home. Providing a space that allows your student to talk about their experiences, asking questions, and encouraging them to incorporate their cross-cultural skillset into their interests is a great way to show support.