Middlebury has adopted a new policy in which students planning to study away for a single semester are assigned a term by the Office of International Programs, according to the Middlebury Campus. Students will be able to express a preference of whether to study away in the spring or fall semester but will ultimately be assigned. 

In 2023, Middlebury’s Office of International Programs predicted that 130 more students would study away in Spring 2024 than in Fall 2023. Liz Ross, associate dean of international programs at Middlebury, emphasized the importance of balanced enrollment across semesters, especially at a small college. “This balance is crucial for on-campus academic programs, housing, and student activities,” she told the Campus. Students studying away for the entire academic year are not affected by the change, according to the Campus.

At Williams — where, as at Middlebury, a majority of students study away — the balance of students studying away across semesters is more even, director of study away Christina Stoicu wrote to the Record. According to Stoiciu, there was only a 20-person split between fall 2023 and spring 2024, with 184 students studying away in the fall and 205 in the spring. In the 2024-2025 academic year, 197 students studied away in the fall and 195 students will study away in the spring.

Under the new system at Middlebury, students who submitted a study away application for the 2025-2026 academic year in November 2024 received their semester assignments on Nov. 18. 

Previously, Middlebury’s system for study away was similar to the one in place at Williams: Students only needed approval from their instructors, study away advisors, and host institutions, according to the Campus.  

During the semester assignment process, the Office of International Programs considered various factors, including whether a student needed to complete an additional semester of language instruction. “If a student does not have a compelling rationale for studying away in the spring semester, they may be reassigned to the fall,” Ross wrote to the  Campus.

Some students were assigned to semesters during which their desired program was not offered. Students dissatisfied with their semester assignments told the Campus that they had the option to submit an appeal, but the chance to switch was not guaranteed.