As high school seniors evaluate colleges and universities across the country, I've met many who are looking to identify programs that offer an "international education." For most, this simply means looking for opportunities to study abroad for all or part of a year. However, thinking about global education in terms of simply studying abroad is an approach that is far too shortsighted.

In addition to overseas experiences, a true international education constantly exposes students to ideas and issues that define today's world. This should happen when students are studying on campus as well as when they're studying abroad, and it should be taking place no matter what a student happens to be studying.

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By David Matthews

Almost a quarter of students and school-leavers in the UK intend to study abroad, with the main motivators being a desire for adventure, plans for an international career or financial worries about pursuing university at home, a survey has found.

The poll of 500 people, the majority of whom were undergraduates, found that 24 per cent had plans to study abroad while 73 per cent were either strongly interested in it or were considering doing so, according to Graduate Prospects, which provides information to students and graduates.

If you want to stand out from the crowd when you enter the graduate jobs market, pursuing a degree abroad could be the answer.

Elizabeth Fillmore is in her final year at school in England but, despite offers from top UK universities, she will not be staying in the country for her degree.

Rather than take up a place at the London School of Economics or Bristol University, she has chosen to study at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

"For the universities on the North American continent you can do a liberal arts degree; you don't have to specialise," she says. "I want to go into law and here you have to do a humanities degree and then a law conversion course, but I'm quite a mathematical person so I want to continue doing several different subjects. I was very attracted by that aspect of North American universities."

More business graduates are opting for job security in unstable economic times.

The Financial Post recently reported that 3,500 Canadian business students ranked a number of public sector institutions among their top 20 most desired employers.

The Government of Canada ranked third overall, and beat out all of Canada’s Big Five banks, as well as mega-companies like Microsoft Corp., Ernst & Young, Bell Canada, Sony Corp. and Facebook Inc.

Studying abroad is a hot topic for college students. It’s a tough opportunity to pass up, considering the level of travel could never be met with a full-time job. The options are vast: semesters abroad, short-term programs, summer sessions, or semesters-at-sea just to name a few. But there’s an elite group of students who take studying abroad to the next level—those who decide to study overseas for their entire undergraduate degree.

The number of students studying overseas for all four years isn’t groundbreaking, but it’s certainly on the rise, and for good reasons. Students experience other languages and cultures in ways you couldn’t get at a school in the U.S. But with such great opportunities at international schools, we’re all left to wonder, why aren’t there more students taking this opportunity?

Studying abroad is a decision that shouldn’t be made lightly. It costs money, for one thing, and if you are not careful you might end up staying in school longer than you thought if the classes you need to take for graduation are not offered abroad. In addition, cultural differences mean that studying abroad can be nerve-racking if you don’t know what to expect.

Many universities have special resources that are available to help you choose a program abroad, and that help prepare you for actually living abroad. Utilize these resources as much as you can! If you are on the fence about whether or not to study abroad, try weighing the pros and cons.

Study abroad experience can help distinguish you in the job market-but only if you’re able to articulate what you got out of it.

“Many of the experiences students have abroad - from immersion in a language to figuring out the local public transportation system — can translate into skills that employers value,” said Lori Lyons, assistant director for career services at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa. “But you have to know how to communicate those skills.”

Once you’ve unpacked your suitcase, here are some ways to translate your time abroad into a great job on the home front.

I am living proof of how study abroad can change your life. I came from Mexico to the United States as a Fulbright graduate student. That led to -- in addition to a master's degree -- falling in love, getting married, becoming a U.S. citizen, campaigning in the 2008 presidential election, and ultimately being chosen to lead public diplomacy for the Western Hemisphere at the U.S. Department of State.