Global Education
The best education in the world includes the world, equipping every Bucknellian — regardless of background or circumstance — with the global perspective, cultural fluency and real-world experience to lead.
Global education is no longer only enrichment. It is essential preparation for leadership in an interconnected world, and every Bucknellian deserves it, from the first passport to the first boardroom.”
— Ladi Carr, Senior International Officer & Executive Director of Bucknell Global Education
CROSS-CULTURAL FLUENCY ISN’T EXTRA CREDIT. IT’S PART OF THE JOB DESCRIPTION.
Markets cross borders. So do the problems worth solving. Today’s graduates will lead teams, serve communities and build companies in a world where no challenge stays local for long.
They’ll need to navigate global markets. Understand perspectives unlike their own. Solve problems that no single country, culture or discipline can solve alone.
That preparation can’t be read about. It has to be lived, and it has to be within reach of every student.
Bucknell’s goal is simple and ambitious: every student in every major from every background has a transformative global experience.
THE GAP
Too often, a student’s access to the world depends on their bank account, their schedule or whether anyone has shown them the way.
For first-generation and underrepresented students, the barriers begin long before the airport. The cost of a passport. The price of a ticket. The uncertainty of going somewhere no one in their family has been.
Student-athletes and students in high-credit majors face a different barrier: a calendar with no room to travel abroad during the semester.
The result is participation that is real, but uneven. At Bucknell, half of students study or work abroad. The goal is every one of them.
THE PLAN: One pathway. Four years. Many ways in.
Bucknell’s plan for global education gives every student a route that fits their major, their schedule and their circumstances. Spring break residencies. Three-week summer programs. A semester abroad. International internships, research and global career treks.
Already in motion
A foundation to build on: The Bucknell Global Scholars Program, endowed in 2017, helps students with financial need cover the travel and program costs that aid doesn’t. Almost 50% of Bucknellians study, intern or do research abroad before they graduate; 290 students received global funding last year. This spring, UNIV 123 residencies will take 66 first-year students to Morocco, Germany, Argentina and South Korea.
Ladi Carr, Bucknell’s senior international officer and executive director of the Bucknell Global Education, is leading this work: connecting what students learn in class with what they live abroad, building partnerships around the world and supporting an international student body from more than 56 countries.
FROM THE FIRST PASSPORT TO THE FIRST GLOBAL CAREER.
A four-year global pathway offers a way to a global experinece in every class year, supplemented by support to make global education accessible for all.
- Year 1 — UNIV 123 Global Ready, Career Ready: A credit-bearing course with a spring break residency in places like Morocco, Germany, Argentina or South Korea.
- Year 2 — Bucknell Global Summer: Three-week, faculty-led summer programs.
- Year 3 — Semester-long study: Bucknell In and partner programs.
- Global internships, research and career treks: International internship stipends. Interdisciplinary research grants that take on community-driven global challenges. Career treks that put students in the rooms where global careers begin.
- Access, inclusion and the Passport Program: Through Bucknell Global Education, students find guided support from a first passport to a first flight, and flexible options built for student-athletes and high-credit majors.
- College access funds: Targeted endowments to allow every student who wants to to go global.
Funding Opportunities
- Senior International Officer and Executive Director, Bucknell Global Education: $5 million
- Funds a named leadership position for campus-wide international strategy & global partnerships
- College Global Access Fund: $5 million per college
- Names a college program funding 45 study abroad or internship scholarships at $5,000 each
- Global Scholars Fund and Study Abroad Support:
- Covers essential deposits and fees, room, board and tuition gaps for international programs
Your support ensures that a student’s family income, major or sports schedule never decides whether they see the world. You give Bucknellians the push to step past what’s familiar, build cross-cultural fluency that lasts a lifetime, and lead in a world without borders.
THE WORLD NEEDS BUCKNELLIANS. BUCKNELLIANS NEED THE WORLD.
Every Bucknellian will graduate with the perspective, empathy and skills to lead in a complex world. Not because they read about it. Because they lived it.
Your partnership builds a campus where going global is not a luxury for a few. It is the standard for every Bucknellian.
Somewhere right now there is a student who has never held a passport. Who has never left the country. Who doesn’t yet know how far a Bucknell education can take them.
You can be the reason they find out.
THE WORLD IS WAITING. SO ARE THEY.
Be the catalyst behind the first passport, the first international flight and the first glimpse of everything a Bucknellian can become.
Fuel Bold Exploration
Give students the opportunity, resources and mentorship to pursue big questions, cross boundaries and turn curiosity into discovery. Your support makes the full Bucknell academic experience possible. Be the catalyst that makes bold academic exploration possible. Be the ’ray.