Questions & Answers
Find Answers to Your Questions & Concerns
Heading off for over three months in another country is easy for some students. Others might like to consider SST but have circumstances that make it difficult.
The sections below cover frequently asked questions as well as situations that prevent students from choosing the SST courses that interest them most. If the barrier you face is not represented here, contact sst@goshen.edu to set up a time to talk. We do all we can to help students see the world from a different angle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Full semesters abroad are available in Ecuador, Indonesia, Senegal, and Tanzania. Short course locations vary year to year. We also offer a six-week domestic SST experience on the Navajo Nation (Arizona) in a hybrid format See our home page.
Semester SST units are 13 weeks with half of the time spent in group study and learning and half at a service assignment.
Our Navajo Nation domestic hybrid unit begins with a spring semester course followed by six weeks of travel beginning in May term and concluding with a summer course online.
Course by course options are three weeks during May term or are taken as one course in a regular 13-week semester.
Sophomore year is the ideal time for SST for scheduling reasons, but most units include juniors and seniors as well as sophomores. It is a personal choice. Students must have at least 30 credit hours to participate. This is equivalent to finishing your first year of college.
12-23 students, led by a faculty member and spouse or assistant
Options vary, but common assignments include:
- Teaching the English language
- Working in a school with children
- Helping at a health clinic
- Assisting in a community development project with an organization such as Habitat for Humanity.
- Agricultural options are usually available as well.
Goshen College works hard to make SST affordable. Student tuition and room and board costs are the same as for other courses. Your financial aid package (including your grants and scholarships) will apply.
Extra costs are listed in the program overview section of each option’s webpage. If SST is a 9th semester for you, see the Financial Aid Office to find out if your aid will extend an extra semester.
Commuter students will need to pay room and board for SST courses off-campus. Need-based commuter scholarships are available.
Yes. One of the five core values at the foundation of Goshen College is global citizenship, so intercultural study is an important component of the Goshen Core. Multiple formats and options allow for a variety of needs. It is possible to complete SST within this region at minimal or no extra cost.
Students may fulfill their requirement through another college’s program. You will need the approval of the director of global education. Learn more about those options.
For a semester, sign in to MyGC and look for the box labeled forms in the lower right corner. Select SST Enrollment Form.
For course by course options register during enrollment periods as with any other course.
Groups have been traveling since the summer of 2021. We remain in close contact with our partners within each country and rely on their advice about local conditions, as well as State Department travel advisories. Airlines are no longer requiring COVID checks or proof of vaccination. We are careful to observe the protocols of the locations that host us. Given the disappointment and inconvenience involved with getting sick while traveling, we still advise masks in crowded spaces.
Common Concerns for Students
- Go Abroad, Young American! A Foreign Affairs article that makes the case for access to study abroad for everyone.
- Global Citizenship Competencies from Participate Learning
- What does it mean to be a citizen of the world? A TED Talk on the need for global thinking.
- See what other students have to say at the Alumni Stories link on First Generation Students Traveling Abroad
- You could make a positive difference in someone else’s life. In Ripples in a Pond, Susan Yoder Graber tells how a difficult SST experience looks surprisingly different with 50 years of hindsight.
- According to this article in Business Insider, people who spend time abroad have a clear sense of self and increased life satisfaction.
- Global Citizenship Competencies from Participate Learning
- This slideshow by Elaine Meyer Lee includes helpful statistics on employment and travel abroad.
- SST Stories contains many reflections from GC alums who went on SST. Choose stories by country or the year they occurred.
- Delphin Monga, Tanzania 2020 – Delphin chose to spend SST in the region where he spent his childhood as a refugee.
- See the SST YouTube Channel for videos made by students.
- Some course by course options require little or no extra cost.
- Make plans for SST early in your college career to avoid scheduling issues that require a ninth semester.
- Email sst@goshen.edu to request an appointment with the director of global engagement. GC has some scholarship money available.
- See our scholarship page. In the past year, Goshen College students have been awarded Gilman, Rotary and Critical Language Scholarships.
- More study abroad scholarships.
- Meaningful Travel Tips and Tales: Mental Health and Self-Care
- Traveling Abroad with Mental Illness This is a frank account from a student who had painful struggles with depression while traveling, but did not regret going abroad. The author provides advice for responding to a group member with a mental illness.
We don’t deny that that could happen. But you will have the support of your leaders and SST group. On the bright side, your willingness to relate could change people’s minds.
- Emma Eitzen, a GC student who went to Tanzania in 2020 completed a project on identity issues on SST for students of color while there.
- The Diversity Abroad website is written for faculty, not students, but it also includes many articles by a wide range of students.
- Anti-Racism Resources for White people CIEE
We can help you pick the SST locations that would work best for you. You do not have to leave the U.S. if you don’t want to.
The resources below are from another school, but if you scroll down to the sections called Student Perspectives, you can read stories from LGBTQ+ travelers.
- Sexuality Abroad (from UC Santa Cruz)
- Gender Abroad (from UC Santa Cruz)
We can help you pick which SST courses would work best for you. Recently, a student who was legally blind went to Ecuador.
Estos materiales no son especificos al programa de Estudio y Servicio Abordo de Goshen College (SST por sus siglas en Ingles), pero sus contenidos son relevantes a nuestro programa.
Para familias y personas de apoyo
Videos Cortos
1. ¿Qué has escuchado de estudiar en el extranjero?
2. Siendo latinx en el extranjero
3. Fortalece tu preparaçión profesional en el extranjero
4. Madres hablan de sus hijos en el extranjero
5. Familiares apoyan estudios en el extranjero
6. Asesoría: ¿Cómo cambiarás al estudiar en el extranjero?