CYA (College Year in Athens) Newsletter Archive

CYA is a Commitment Partner of the Institute of International Education (IIE) Generation Study Abroad (GSA) Initiative. The GSA Initiative brings employers, governments, associations, and others together to build on current best practices and find new ways to extend study abroad opportunities to tens of thousands of college students.

CYA has pledged to increase enrollment by strengthening partnerships and seeking synergies with educational institutions in the U.S. and overseas. Here are some of the important things we’ve done working towards achieving that goal.

CYA successfully hosted The Forum on Education Abroad's 3rd European Conference in October 2016, fostering conversations that will contribute to the increased support and success of future US students abroad. CYA faculty and staff presented sessions at the Conference on the subjects of service learning and volunteerism during study abroad.

Prior to the Forum Conference, CYA invited study abroad directors to attend a program site visit, where CYA administrators met one-on-one with US colleagues to determine ways to increase study abroad participation from each of their schools.
To strengthen partnerships with educational institutions in the US, CYA has added a Senior Coordinator of Campus Relations to our North American staff; her role is to visit campuses year-round to allow CYA to better understand and serve the needs of our partners' students.
CYA has also hired a Director of Development who has begun the process of fundraising for the targeted diversity scholarship program.
In addition to continuing a $3,000 discount for students from state universities, CYA has increased its discount for full-year program participants.
CYA has increased opportunities for Alum Ambassadors to contribute to CYA's goals, including talking to prospective students at study abroad fairs. These opportunities, along with a newly compiled Professional Development Resource, also help Ambassadors better articulate the benefits of study abroad and further their own career objectives.
The Social Media Assistant program has been replaced by an even richer Social Media Internship program, guided and directed by a Communications faculty member. Through this program, a new CYA Blog has been created, which features student articles, photos, program news and more. This program has been our most comprehensive effort to date at sharing the CYA student experience.

In 2016, CYA made it possible for 219 students and faculty to study abroad through customized programs, a 20% increase from the previous year. This trend is expected to continue in 2017 alongside the growth of CYA semester student numbers.