Family, Finances, Fear, Faculty, and FOMO

Only 2% of US students who study abroad are Black men. Meet Tremaine Collins, of Tokyo. by Ira Porter
The Christian Science Monitor, December 13, 2025

International student enrollment has declined in several major destinations, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, prompting renewed interest in study-abroad opportunities that facilitate students' global experience. Studying abroad offers students the chance to travel, experience other cultures, and broaden the perspectives they bring back to their home campuses and communities. And yet, as the title of a recent article by Ira Porter points out, “only 2 percent of US students who study abroad are Black men.” By profiling one such student, Tremaine, Porter identifies some of the challenges of studying abroad. Porter cites a decades-old paper from Spelman College that identifies four barriers to study-abroad participation: family, finances, fear, and faculty. One might add a modern fifth: the fear of missing out on opportunities at one’s home university. Written for high school counselors and university study-abroad advisors interested in diversifying who goes abroad, the article may also resonate with students themselves. Tremaine speaks about his desire to try new things and travel; his optimism, along with the experiences of other students featured in the article, highlights the possibilities that study abroad opens up. As he says, “I think my older self is going to be proud of my younger self.”