Students who want to study in a distant island at a university surrounded by mountains and river valleys will find themselves right at home in the newest regents’ semester abroad program in Cork, Ireland.

The new program will begin in the fall of 2002.

The University College Cork in Cork, Ireland is home to about 12,000 students. The university was founded in 1845, and has eight colleges – art, Celtic studies, commerce, law, science, food science and technology, engineering and medicine. Cork, population 200,000, is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland.

Katie Benolken, senior in marketing, did much of the research about the city of Cork and University College Cork.

“It’s a great college town,” she said. “It’s smaller then ISU, but you have access to Dublin and Galway.”

The Iowa regent universities chose Cork from a number of Irish universities, said Trevor Nelson, program coordinator for International Education Services. Nelson accompanied representatives from University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa to Ireland to assess the university.

“It was very difficult deciding between Cork and [National University of Ireland, Galway],” Nelson said.

Criteria for evaluating the universities included the range of courses, the price and the non-academic activities at the university, longevity of programs and support for students, he said. The goal was to develop a program that provides opportunity and is still affordable to students.

“We felt that Cork had the edge in terms of price,” Nelson said.

The new regents program was developed because of the popularity of the other two regents’ semesters abroad in Wales and Australia, he said.

“[We] couldn’t accommodate the number of students in the exchange programs,” Nelson said.

Other programs for study in Ireland do exist at Iowa State, but they are “rather expensive,” he said.

Students studying on the regents’ semesters pay ISU tuition for their experiences in Wales, Australia and Ireland.

Bill Pinegar, coordinator of the Ireland semester, said the new program is very similar to the Wales program, which is the most popular program at the ISU Study Abroad Office.

“It’s English speaking and has a rich culture, different, but the same,” said Pinegar, graduate student in business administration. “They’re the friendliest people in the world.”

Benolken said Ireland has a lot of entertainment, history and scenery.

“It’s a different, exciting option,” she said.

“The sea’s really close. It’s a beautiful location, a fun country.”

The convenience and affordability of the regents’ semesters abroad draws many students each semester, Pinegar said.

“Regents programs are huge,” he said.

“During the semester, you have a little guidance, but not too much.”

Nelson said he predicts the project will be a success.

“We hope that students come back delighted from their experience in Cork,” he said

For more information, visit University College Cork’s Web site, www.ucc.ie and the Study Abroad Resource Center’s Web site, www.iastate.edu/~study-abroad/.