Facts and Figures

This year's virtual delivery method has allowed Summer Abroad to expand it's reach. Students who would not have otherwise been able to spend 3-6 weeks abroad are now able to participate in our courses from the their homes all around the world! This year's virtual courses are providing participants with a valuable international experience without the need to travel overseas. 

Students this year are studying our virtual courses in 15 different countries including Brazil, China, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, and New Zealand! The course content also provides a global scope where students are engaged in group discussions and virtual activities relevant to the area. For example, students this year are learning about Andalusian cuisine in the Spain program, the history of modern intelligence in the England program, Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture in the Italy program, as well as business modelling and global organizations in the South Korea program. 

The Summer Abroad program encourages participation from students in all academic years as long as they meet the eligibility requirements. Bringing students from across all years of study (and some alumni!) together to learn in a small group, allows for students to make friends and learn from peers who they may have not have had the opportunity to interact with. While the majority of this year's participants are in their 3rd year of study, all stages of the undergraduate academic experience are represented.

For 2021, almost half (48.47%) of our participants are third year students and about a quarter (24.05%) are in their second year. While they tend to be the majority of students who participate in Summer Abroad, we also have first year students (11.07%), fourth+ year students (16.03%), as well as alumni (0.38%). The range in year of study shows that students can participate in Summer Abroad at different points of their academic studies. 

While based at Woodsworth College, the Summer Abroad program is open to students across the three University of Toronto campuses. Through collaborative efforts with the Centre for International Experience at UTSG, the UTM International Education Centre and the International Student Centre at UTSC, we're able to bring together students from a wide-variety of academic backgrounds to make new friends, learn from new perspectives and share unique intercultural experiences!

For 2021, we have 148 students from the St. George campus, 66 students from UTM, and 48 students from UTSC participating in the virtual Summer Abroad programs. Past participants have shared that Summer Abroad gave them the unique opportunity to meet and form close friendships with students from other campuses. 

At the end of each program, we conduct a survey to collect students' comments about their Summer Abroad experiences. We take feedback very seriously and implement student suggestions as much as possible in an effort to improve our programs. With this year being our first summer offering virtual programs, we were pleased to see students identifying a variety of rewarding aspects of their virtual Summer Abroad experience.

When asked what the most rewarding aspect of their virtual Summer Abroad course was, many students spoke about the international guest speakers and virtual tours as the key highlights of their experience. Students also enjoyed the interactive group discussions that took place in their small-sized class, led by professors who are knowledgable and supportive in their learning. They also appreciated the unique opportunity to learn about international perspectives and new cultures in their Summer Abroad course.

Check out more results from our survey.