Mississippi State University is simultaneously sending off and receiving more students than ever before as it offers the National Student Exchange program to qualified students for the fourth consecutive year. “The program as a whole has definitely grown,” Mississippi State’s NSE coordinator Nancy Fultz said. “Twenty-six of our own students have participated and the entire NSE program has placed over 4,600 students.”
The NSE is a program that allows undergraduate students to participate in a semester or yearlong experience at one of the other participating schools. What makes this affordable is that students continue to pay MSU tuition while they are gone, instead of the regular out-of-state amount. MSU honors participating students’ financial aid that previously existed.
There are 171 schools to choose from and they stretch from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast. This allows students to have a variety of schools to choose from depending on their major and personal interests. MSU’s first year to be involved with the program was 1999, which turned out to be a year of organization and orientation. Two years ago was the first year to actually have students coming and going in the program and last year the program grew even more.
“We had six students at other schools this fall and hope to have more than that go in the future,” Fultz said. “Students have enjoyed going to California, Oregon, Colorado, Maryland and many other regions on exchange.”
Requirements for the program include undergraduate classification, maintaining a 2.5 GPA and being in good standing with the home university.
“I think these requirements are very reasonable because it doesn’t eliminate those who aren’t the 4.0 students which is the point, because all students can benefit from the program,” Fultz said.
There is an application fee of $75, which is due by Feb. 15 for the fall/spring 2002-2003 semesters. Fultz will be attending a conference in March to review all applications with other representatives from the participating schools.
The program is not limited to just the states, students may attend participating universities in Canada, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Virgin Islands.
The NSE program began in 1968 and more than 70,000 students have been placed in its 34 year history. For more information about the program look at the NSE Web site or call Fultz at 325-7049.
“I encourage anyone who meets this criteria to really consider taking part in it,” Fultz said. “It really is a great program to get involved in.