The NC State European Center in Prague is presently NC State’s only official university presence outside of the United States. With three stories of building space located in the center of Prague, NC State Prague is an attractive option for many students when considering their Study Abroad options.
This year, NC State has experienced the largest increase in Study Abroad participation of NC State’s history, with an increase of attendance by 16 percent, according to Study Abroad’s 2017-18 Year in Review report. The Czech Republic also tops the list of “Top 10 Countries by Student Enrollment” with 231 students.
Heidi Hobbs, transition director of the European Center in Prague, gave some background on the history of NC State Prague and why it is the only overseas center that carries NC State’s name.
“NC State has had a presence in Prague since the mid-1990s,” Hobbs said. “We founded the Prague institute in 2005, and it was associated with the College of Design. In 2017, we became part of the larger university and now are a unit of the Office of Global Engagement. As such, we have opened up a lot of programming that was traditionally design-based to students from all majors.”
Since 2017, NC State Prague has worked to make the facility a viable Study Abroad option for students of all majors and has been successful, as NC State Prague accommodates approximately 200 students in a full calendar year.
“In fall, we have a traditional semester program,” Hobbs said. “Primarily in the fall we have a lot of architecture students come because it’s when we do our architecture courses but we also have general ed as well. Spring traditionally was graphic design but again, because we have diversified, there are a broad range of general ed opportunities and then summer is everything, a lot of GEPs. In a full calendar year, fall, spring and summer, we will serve about 200 students, give or take.”
One of the emerging programs offered at the NC State European Center in Prague is Prague Connect, an opportunity for students who are admitted for the spring semester to earn credits in Prague during the preceding fall. The program, which began in fall 2017, consists of 12 credit hours and runs for 90 days.
Depending on the type of program a student wishes to be part of during their time in Prague, prices for the experience range from $3,600-$11,950, with no extra cost to out-of-state students.
Ariana Milner, a first-year studying fashion and textile management, was one of 28 students who participated in Prague Connect in fall 2018. Milner spoke about her experiences overseas, including the day-to-day structure of the program.
“We had two groups: the A group and the B group,” Milner said. “Throughout the week we would have two or three classes a day from Monday to Thursday. Afterwards, we would go explore, because we had that whole day to ourselves to discover new things, and we had Fridays off. We got to travel on the weekends, because traveling was really cheap.”
Aside from her course work, Milner learned how to be more independent during her time in Prague.
“It was like being an adult, honestly,” Milner said. “I learned how to be more independent while I was there, obviously, but it was just like we were literally living on our own and figuring everything out by ourselves for the first semester.”
Despite technically attending NC State during the fall, Milner was nervous to join the rest of the NC State community in Raleigh for the spring semester. Ultimately, Milner’s experience in Prague left her wanting more.
For students who are interested in the NC State European Center in Prague can visit their website.
