Germany as a Study Abroad Destination for U.S. Students in STEM Disciplines

If, like me, you are interested in the historical side of international education you may find an article I had published in the Fall/Winter 2010 issue of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad to be of interest.

Some interesting historical points of interest from the article follow [see article for proper citations]:

“Data from 1835 indicates that approximately 4% of all students enrolled at German universities were international students from abroad and the number increased to 8% in 1904.”

“A number of historians and scholars estimate that between 6,000 to 10,000 American students studied in Germany between 1815 and 1914.”

“Perhaps the most famous American to study in Germany during this period was W.E.B. Du Bois from 1882 to 1894.”

“The account of German academic life in 1888 was rather critical about the physics laboratories and described them as inferior to those found at universities in the United States.”

“The Office of Military Government and the United States Department of State launched a foreign policy program in 1947 that was to bring close to 10,000 German citizens to the United States to learn about democratic principles.”

“By 1948, the first American Fulbright students, teachers and faculty were heading to European ally countries and in 1952 German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and U.S. High Commissioner John J. McCloy signed the Fulbright Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of America thus establishing the German-American Fulbright Commission.”

“During the 1960–1961 academic year almost 9% or 24,00020 of all students enrolled at German universities were international students from abroad and of these students approximately 1,575 were American. Within five years, during the 1965–1966 academic year, the total number of American students enrolled at German universities increased approximately 52% to 2,392 students.”

 

Full citation of the article: Comp, D.  (2010, Fall/Winter).  Germany as a Study Abroad Destination of American Students in the Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Fields.  ”Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad”, Vol. XIX, 191-203.