Students are encouraged to take advantage of CSUN’s study abroad program before it is too late.

CSUN’s International and Exchange Student Center hosted the Study Abroad Fair near the University Student Union.

“Students typically go abroad in their junior year,” said Juliet Aylmer, study abroad and national student exchange advisor.  “Some programs are open to sophomores.  For seniors, it is too late to study abroad unless they declare a minor.”

Aylmer said she wants freshmen that may be interested in studying overseas to start thinking early about it.

Aleks Hulisz has studied abroad twice.  She studied in Spain for a year while she was an undergraduate student at UC Irvine and then she studied in India as a graduate student.

She is now the associate director of admissions for the Study Abroad programs at American Intercontinental University.

“Spain was the best year of my college career,” she said.

Denissa Kiehl, an art history major studied in Florence, Italy during the 2009-2010 academic year.  Florence was an ideal place to deepen her understanding of her major, she said.

Kiehl, 21, said she intends to go back for research when she is a graduate student.

Aylmer said a year abroad is comparable in cost to a year spent at CSUN.  Students who get financial aid can use it abroad, she added.

Aylmer said the demand for information about the study abroad program is greater than it has ever been in the four years that she has been working with the program.

“I have 630 students signed up for information,” she said.

Students who want to study outside the U.S. need a minimum 2.75 to 3.0 grade point average, Aylmer said.  The program runs for a whole academic year, and students can choose from schools on six continents.

Despite the fact that some study abroad programs may cost a bit more than a year at CSUN, the experiences gained are priceless, Aylmer added.