The number of students studying abroad is at a record high nationwide, with several universities in the Washington region topping the rankings, according to a report by the Institute for International Education released Monday.

District-based Georgetown and American universities ranked eighth and ninth in the percentages of their students studying in foreign lands.

However, D.C. colleges and universities as a whole saw 6.6 percent fewer students in study-abroad programs in the 2005-06 term from the 2004-2005 school year, compared with a national spike of 8.5 percent.

Georgetown’s 937 study-abroad participants made up 55 percent of the total student population, while American’s 745 study-abroad students accounted for 51.2 percent.

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Sara Dumont, director of study abroad at American University, said the college has even more students taking classes abroad this year — 60 percent — reflecting a surge that over the past five years has resulted in a near-doubling of student participation.

“One reason that number is so high is that we charge home tuition no matter where you go. So if they can afford to be at AU, they can afford to go abroad,” she said.

Like other universities across the country, American has seen an increase in students from fields not generally associated with study abroad, such as life science.

Destinations also are expanding beyond traditional hot spots like Western Europe. For instance, nearly 40 percent more college students studied in China in the 2005-2006 school year than in the previous year.

In Virginia, George Mason University ranked seventh nationwide in the number of students participating in shorter programs, the subcategory with the greatest growth nationally.

The Fairfax County-based institution sent 1,117 students to foreign countries for eight weeks or less.

Maryland’s college and universities, meanwhile, saw a 21 percent surge in study-abroad participation, based on the report.

Peggy Blumenthal, the Institute for International Education’s chief operating officer, said experts immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks feared students would “turn inward.” However, the opposite has happened.

“Students are really convinced of the value of traveling internationally and becoming global professionals. They really want to understand how the world thinks of us,” she said. “The impact is that when they come back they really bring it back into the classroom and internationalize the conversation.”

Institutions that sent highest student percentage abroad

» 1. Yeshiva University

» 2. University of Denver

» 3. Dartmouth College

» 4. Wake Forest University

» 5. University of Saint Thomas

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com