Not everyone is cut out for the typical college experience.

For some students, there is a whole world out there to study. And thanks to programs at colleges and universities, studying in the midst of another culture is becoming a more popular option.

For Butler resident Jessica Snyder, there's no place she'd rather be than in Italy.

Snyder left Thursday to study in Italy and will be there for nine months thanks to a foreign studies program at Dickinson College, where she is a junior.

While in Bologna, Italy, Snyder will study Italian history, politics and culture at the local college. She also is responsible for trying to recruit Italian students to attend Dickinson College as part of a separate initiative with Dickinson's recruitment office.

"And I will be tutoring elementary kids in English," she said, "and I'm really looking forward to that."

Snyder has a dual major in Italian studies and classical studies with a minor in education. She speaks four languages, including English. The other three are Spanish, Italian and Latin.

"Ultimately, I want to take my experiences and my degrees and become a teacher," she said.

Snyder said her trip is covered by tuition she already has paid to Dickinson. The only thing she will be responsible for is any extra spending or "fun money" she needs while there as well as her airfare.

Brian Brubaker, Dickinson's assistant director for study abroad, said the program is in its 40th year and is part of the college's Nilsson Center for European Studies.

"Dickinson saw a need for sending its students to study European politics and culture, and that's how the program got started," he said.

Brubaker said 30 to 35 students each year generally apply for the program, but only those with a grade point average of 2.8 or higher and letters of reference from faculty, staff, coaches and other professionals are considered for the program.

Most of the students who go attend Dickinson's program in Italy, Brubaker said.

"But students who have really strong language skills, especially in Italian, can take classes directly from the University of Bologna," he said.

This is the case with Snyder.

It is not the first time Snyder has participated in the program. Last year, she attended college at Salamanca University in Salamanca, Spain. That trip was sponsored through the American Institute for Foreign Study.

Although the long trips can be hard on her family, Snyder said she looks forward to the adventures.

"I've always loved the study of foreign cultures," she said. "Even at a very young age, I took an interest in studying foreign languages."

Snyder expects it will take her about a week to adjust to the lifestyle in Italy.

"It takes that long just because it's a new place and a new schedule," she said. "And with the time difference, it takes awhile to get adjusted."

Dickinson isn't the only Pennsylvania college or university that offers study abroad programs. Slippery Rock University also has a similar program, called International Initiatives.

Pam Frigot, SRU's International Initiatives program director, said SRU has had a program since 1964.

"For the first year or so (it) was focused on bringing students to our campus from other parts of the world," she said. "But it quickly expanded to providing opportunities for our students and faculty to have overseas experiences, too."

Under certain instances, SRU students who participate in the program have the expense covered by regular tuition, Frigot said.

"Some are 'direct exchanges' where an SRU student would pay the costs here, a student at one of our exchange partner universities would pay their costs there, and they would then swap places for a semester or year," she said.

However, some of SRU's programs directly enroll students in a foreign university, and in those cases the students are responsible for the full cost of tuition, Frigot said.

SRU also offers internships, overseas student teaching and short-term seminars.

"In addition to our efforts to keep program costs reasonable for an SRU student, we can partially reimburse airfare for students going on semester or yearlong programs as well as contributing toward the overall program cost of our short-term programs," Frigot said.

Between 200 and 300 SRU students go overseas every year as part of the various programs, Frigot said, including to places like China, Poland, Ireland, Costa Rica and Australia. There are 20 locations overall, with some of them changing from year to year.

There is no limit to how many times an SRU student can participate in the program, Frigot said.

The benefits of the program include personal growth in areas such as confidence, risk taking, ability to read and navigate new situations and time management, Frigot said.

"It shows in their work when they return home," Frigot said. "They see the world differently … smaller than before, where good relations between individuals, institutions and countries are possible."

Snyder said she plans to take full advantage of her time in Italy and hopes the experience will change her outlook on that part of the world forever.

"I'm thrilled to be living in Italy and to be part of the culture while there," she said.