Officials at the Binghamton University Office of International Programs support President Barack Obama’s initiative to send 100,000 American students to China over the next four years.

These exchanges, Obama told his audience at a town hall meeting in Shanghai, China, would “mark a clear commitment to build ties among our people, as surely as you will help determine the destiny of the 21st century.”

According to the latest data from Open Doors, a report on international student mobility, 6,389 American students studied in China in 2006.

A 2007 Institute of International Education report analyzing U.S. study abroad trends stated that the annual number of American students receiving credit for study abroad exceeded 205,000. However, with 14 million students enrolled in higher education, the report said, “there remains a huge unmet need to expand American students’ international experience.”

Out of the 103 SUNY students who studied abroad in China since fall 2006, 57 have been from BU.

Susan Lewis, senior assistant director of the Office of International Programs, emphasized the importance of international study.

“Students should have a sophistication about and knowledge of the rest of the world,” she said.

To meet Obama’s goal of inspiring a new generation of global citizenship, Lewis said that the SUNY system has made Chinese university partnerships a major priority.

“There are vast opportunities with China, with its growing economy and its increasing openness to the rest of the world,” she said. “We think [Obama] is heading in the right direction.”

The international education community has been pleased with Obama’s decision to help students succeed and prosper in a globalized and interconnected world, Lewis said. Scholarship funding has increased for multiple scholarships, including the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship and the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Lewis encouraged students to explore the variety of BU’s existing partnerships with China, which includes diverse offerings from the summer Chinese Business Language and Culture program in Fudan, the Total Art of Chinese Theatre in Shanghai, the winter intersession Understanding Contemporary China in Shenzhen, a library exchange agreement with Beijing Normal University and the 2+2 affiliation agreement for a bachelor’s degree in engineering with Hebei University of Technology.

Launched last fall, the Confucius Institute at BU will also offer Chinese Opera courses beginning in fall 2010. The institute is staffed by five Chinese professors-in-residence, providing student instruction in Chinese language and Chinese theater arts.

Future programs aim to provide greater access for non-Chinese speakers by offering a curriculum geared toward English-speakers. A strong emphasis will also be given to the study of the Chinese language and culture, for beginners through advanced learners.

Of the 57 BU students who studied abroad in China since fall 2006, 41 enrolled in Fudan University’s summer program, nine in Shenzhen University’s Understanding Contemporary China winter program, two in Soochow University’s semester program, and five in the Total Art of Chinese Theatre summer program with the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts and the Shanghai Academy of Theatre.

“I’m absolutely confident that America has no better ambassadors to offer than our young people,” Obama said during his November visit to China. “For they, just like you, are filled with talent and energy and optimism about the history that is yet to be written.”