Eastern’s Study Abroad staff set up a table outside Doudna Thursday afternoon, allowing students to taste chocolate and learn more about the program.

The chocolates were from different countries in Europe, some of which are options in the study abroad program.

The program offers options for those who want an opportunity to get an education outside of the United States.

Heather Vaupel, a graduate student currently studying political science, was answering questions about study abroad at the table. She is also a graduate assistant for the program.

“Currently we have 605 different programs in 6 continents of the world, so you could pretty well go anywhere. A lot of students like Europe, Latin America, [and] Asia,” Vaupel said.

These programs offer learning opportunities on a variety of subjects.

“We cater to all majors, so we even have some engineering students go abroad, some chemistry majors, and we also have a lot of education majors,” Vaupel said.

The Consortium for Overseas Student Teaching program is a program specifically for education majors who may want to teach in other countries.

Students who enroll in this program will stay in Illinois for eight weeks, and then spend another eight weeks abroad. They’ll be able to choose from a long list of countries, including places like South Africa, Mexico, New Zealand, China, and Spain.

A lot of scholarships are available for those who need financial aid or may be worried about the costs of traveling.

There are both national scholarships and Eastern-specific scholarships and grants. The William V. Weber scholarship and the Office of Study Abroad grant are the two biggest forms of financial aid that are offered to students at Eastern.

The grant by itself varies from $500 to $2000, depending on a student’s financial need and academic merit.

Application deadlines for study abroad during the summer of 2022 are approaching.

For most programs and scholarships, the deadline will be on Feb. 11, 2022. However, for those interested in faculty-led programs, the deadline will be on Feb. 28, 2022.

Any students who want to learn more about study abroad can attend the Study Abroad Fair in the Grand Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. Union on Sep. 15, from 10:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m.

Ian Stobaugh can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].