New York University will open a study-abroad site in Tel Aviv for the 2008–09 school year, a decision that comes on the heels of its announcement of an auxiliary campus in Paris that will open in September 2010 and the opening of a site in Shanghai last fall.

“The world is becoming more globalized, and there’s been a push by our faculty that we stretch out outside traditional Western Europe,” the vice provost for global and multicultural affairs for NYU, Yaw Nyarko, said in announcing the decision yesterday.

The shift to such nontraditional sites is indicative of growing student and faculty interest. According to the Institute of International Education’s annual report, students’ interest in attending programs in China increased by 35% between 2004–05 and 2005–06, and the country was the eighth-leading location for college students studying abroad. Interest in Argentina, Brazil, and India also increased; all were among the top 20 most popular sites for the first time in the institute’s 50 years of collecting data.

The report, funded by the U.S. State Department, is considered the official census of American students studying abroad. Western Europe still dominated the top five most popular locations, with Britain ranking no. 1.

The IIE’s chief operating officer, Peggy Blumenthal, said students are looking to study in emerging markets around the world, which signals a shift in the philosophy of studying abroad itself.

“It’s clear that students are increasingly looking for study opportunities that will advance their career opportunities and will help them compete in a global marketplace,” Ms. Blumenthal said. Students “are realizing that study abroad is not just a vacation, it’s a chance to strengthen your skills and your marketability and your professional expertise. Careers are going to be global, no matter what your field.”

When planning a new site, Mr. Nyarko said a university examines the interests of its faculty and students, many of whom are seeking a global experience. “The interests of the professors get transferred to our students, and they, too, are clamoring for sites outside the traditional Western sites,” he said.

NYU is planning to finalize the details of the Tel Aviv partnership program in the next year. The university expects about 50 students to enroll each semester. Students will have access to the dormitories, libraries, and classrooms at Tel Aviv University, as well as some of its other resources. NYU and TAU students will be able to register for courses at either university.

Other universities are also expanding to locations not previously included in the traditional studyabroad mix. Duke University, which has 12 sites abroad and 140 pre-approved programs through other universities, is slated to open a site in Istanbul, Turkey, next spring.

“A lot of it has to do with faculty and an intention on our part to diversify opportunities,” the director and associate dean of Duke’s study abroad programs, Margaret Riley, said. “With more and more nontraditional students, you have to come up with nontraditional locations.”