Ireland ranks as the 6th most popular country for U.S students studying abroad

Tuesday, November 19, 2019 - 11:00

The Open Doors Report 2019, released today by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, ranks Ireland as the 6th most popular destination for US. Students when studying abroad. 11,965 U.S Students studied in Ireland for a semester or summer in 2017/2018. This is an increase of 4.1% on the previous year and a move from 7th to 6th place, behind the U.K, Italy, Spain, France and Germany.

In the 2017/18 academic year, 341,751 U.S. students participated in study abroad programs for academic credit, a 2.7 percent increase over the previous year. European countries remain the most popular destinations for U.S. study abroad students; 54.9 percent of study abroad students went to Europe in 2017/18.

An increasing number of STEM students are studying abroad, representing 25.6 percent of the total. The population of study abroad students has also continued to become more diverse; 30.0 percent of study abroad students in 2017/18 identified as a member of a racial or ethnic minority group, compared to 23.7 percent in 2012/13 and 18.2 percent in 2007/08.

64.6% of students participated on a short-term programme, with a duration of 8 weeks of less, while 33.1% participated on semester programmes and just 2.3% for a full academic year.

Understanding U.S. Study Abroad in Ireland: Economic impact and future possibilities was launched in September 2018 by Mary Mitchell O'Connor TD, Minister of State for Higher Education. This impact study found that commonly cited reasons for choosing Ireland include: English language, ease of travel to Europe, safety, friendliness, culture, ancestry, and an understandable, “well aligned” academic system. The US study abroad sector in Ireland contributes €220M to the Irish economy each year as a combination of direct, induced, and indirect spending.

Maynooth University has numerous partnerships and strong links with US institutions and receives students from across the United States for semester and summer programmes. Our Summer School has grown exponentially over the last five years, as well as an increase in the number of short-term programmes. Semester study abroad remains steady with a larger cohort of U.S students on campus in the spring semester usually. Exchange partnerships allow for reciprocal study abroad and Maynooth University students can study at U.S universities with the host institution’s tuition fees waived.

Semester study abroad is predicted to grow with new customised programmes in the pipeline for freshman (first year) students, Engineering, Business and Education students, as well as an internship option. The MU Summer School has expanded to include a new Engineering and Computer Science option for 2020. Maynooth University and the International Office intend to make further efforts to increase the number of U.S students studying on our campus and also facilitating MU students to avail of the exchange opportunities at our U.S partner universities.