By Garrett Bonistalli

Students will have an opportunity to plan their summer overseas Wednesday.

Anyone interested in studying abroad this summer will have the option to attend a summer study abroad informational hour in the Center Theatre in the Student Center. The program will run from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The Education Abroad office and the Kentucky Institute for International studies will host the session. KIIS is a leading study abroad consortium consisting of 21 universities, 20 of which are in Kentucky.

“What’s unique about KIIS programs is that they’re taught by professors in Kentucky, not just UK professors, but professors from all over the state,” Education Abroad adviser Laura Braun said.

KIIS offers 24 study abroad summer programs in 22 different countries. Fields of study are contingent upon the country. At the info session, students will have a chance to see which programs work best for them.

“It presents a few different programs focusing on different regions,” Braun said. “It presents a lot of different options to students for summer study and also gives them a chance to get questions answered. UK faculty will also be there to answer questions about specific programs that they will be teaching.”

Summer programs through KIIS typically last anywhere from four five weeks. These kinds of summer programs have been the growing trend in studying abroad at UK.

“Summer abroad programs at UK are extremely popular,” Director of Education Abroad Anthony Ogden said. “Sixty-six percent of all students who study abroad at UK study during the summer, which is 10 percent higher than the national average.”

Having a teacher a student is familiar with could be one of the contributing factors as to why education abroad numbers in the summer are higher than the average, Odgen said.

“Most UK students are traveling abroad with UK faculty who they trust in Faculty-led programs,” he said. “We want to reach out and encourage more faculty engagement in education abroad.”

The Education Abroad office gives $80,000 a year in scholarships, Braun said. The scholarship deadline for summer study abroad is March 1. The deadline to apply for study abroad through UK is April 1. To register through KIIS, the deadline is Feb. 15.