By Zac Farber

The International Center received 112 applications for study away in the fall, down from 129 applications in fall 2007 and 169 applications for student applying to study abroad this semester. It is common for more students to apply for spring slots than for fall slots, and in recent years the college administration has struggled with balancing the number of students who study away in fall with those in spring.

In February the Board of Trustees announced that the 2008-09 study away budget be $3.6 million, a 13 percent increase over this year’s budget.

The $3.6 million means that the number of slots for study away in 2008-09 will be 275, an increase of 15 from 2007-08.

Paula Paul-Wagner, the assistant director of the International Center, said the study away review committee will meet early next week and students should receive their decisions in their SPO by Friday, April 4.

Many of the applicants for fall study away requested programs in Africa, Paul-Wagner said. There were 11 applicants for the program in Cape Town, South Africa.

Middle Eastern programs are also growing in popularity.

“We have interest in Arabic,” Paul-Wagner, “that I would say is slowly on the rise; not anything precipitous.