The door to another world is right on the Buffalo State College campus.

The office of the National Student Exchange is in Room 416 of Cleveland Hall. Since 1976 Buffalo State College has sent about 1,000 students, at more than 176 colleges and universities over the country. The program sends students as far as Canada , the Virgin Islands and Guam .

“I want to go somewhere exotic because I haven't really done much in my life yet,” says sophomore Nick Bruno, an economics major. Bruno is applying to the NSE to study economics in Hawaii . “Mainly, I just want to have new experiences.”

He has a good chance, too. According to NSE Vice President Wendel Wickland, 97 percent of those who apply are accepted to the program.

To qualify a student must:

• Have a 2.5 grade point average
• Have no incomplete grades from a previous term
• Full-time enrollment

NSE applications are due to the office by Feb. 20. There is a $100 application fee, of which $20 is given back to the student when they reach their destination.

“I will place about 50 or 60 students from our campus, but I would like to place more,” Wickland said.

Eighty-four percent of students who apply are sent to their first choice schools, Wickland said.

There are two different payment plans for NSE.

Plan A : students pay tuition to the school that hosts them, but they pay as if they were a resident.

Plan B: students pay Buffalo State tuition and fees, but they pay for their room and board at the host school.

Tuition at the host school determines which payment plan is more cost effective. Transportation to the school is always the responsibility of the student.

“It was amazing,” said Buffalo State junior Jen Salsbury, who attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst last semester. “The scariest part is pulling yourself out of what is familiar.”

It helps students learn confidence, she said. She took classes in her major, fine arts photography, while there. Salsbury said she would defiantly recommend it to others.

Link:
www.nse.org