A bill in the U.S. Congress might help Ohio University students fund study abroad trips to non-traditional locations in a nationwide effort to increase the number of students who study abroad.

The Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007 would create a foundation to distribute a proposed $80 million in federal money to universities and organizations for study abroad programs, said Ursula Oakes, director of press relations for NAFSA, formerly known as the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers.

The bill aims to increase the number of American students who study abroad to 1 million in 10 years, Oakes said. Currently about 200,000 students study abroad each year, according to the 2006 Open Doors Report, published by the Institute of International Education, a non-profit education and cultural exchange organization.

The foundation would use grant money to “leverage change” in universities’ study abroad programs, Oakes said. Universities applying for grant money would have to meet set requirements, such as programs in non-traditional or non-European locations, approved curriculum and increased student interest in study abroad opportunities, she said.

The U.S. House of Representatives has reported on the bill and it currently is being discussed in a committee in the U.S. Senate.

The bill also seeks to change the demographics of those who study abroad. At OU, 652 students, or 76 percent of students studying abroad, were Caucasian, according to the 2006 Open Doors Report.

The bill has bipartisan support, but the proponents’ biggest concerns are how much money will be allocated to the foundation and how long Congress will debate the bill, said David Diamond, president of Global Student Experience, a private party facilitator of study abroad programs. The bill has been co-sponsored by 46 congressmenand senators, including Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

“Money is a concern for a lot of students,” said Catherine Marshall, interim director of OU’s Office of Education Abroad. The bill could help students fund study abroad trips.

The office offers several need-based and merit scholarships for students who want to study abroad, but Marshall said there is not enough funding and she would love to see help from the national level.

For about 850 OU students who studied abroad in 2006, the top two destinations were the United Kingdom and France, each with 117 participants, according to 2006 Open Doors numbers.

“Schooling can be Eurocentric,” Marshall said.

Although education abroad offers non-traditional locations, such as Ghana, Indonesia and Kenya, European nations are generally more popular with OU students because they fear the language barrier and stepping outside their comfort zones, Marshall said.