The Elon Centre Abroad in London will be all new starting fall 2012. The changes come after Elon spent almost two years reviewing the program, ultimately deciding to change partnerships from the Anglo American Educational Services to the Foundation for International Education.

"From the perspective of a student, there will be more alike than there will be different, but the differences will all be positive," said Woody Pelton, dean of International Programs.

The new program offers an expanded course catalog with 20 to 30 academic courses compared to the four or five offered in the current program, according to Heidi White, associate director for study abroad.

"I think it's just deepening what we had before," White said. "There's more opportunities and they're slightly different."

Students will now also be required to take a key course through FIE, which is a class offered in a variety of fields with a specialized focus on London or the UK. Additionally, students will be required to participate in an experimental learning course involving either an internship, a service learning course or a research component.

"I know that classes are important," said senior Jacki Higgins, who went abroad with the Elon London Center last spring, "but I worry that this new program will be so intense that the students won't want to, or won't have the time to go exploring."

But one major advantage to the program change, according to Pelton, is that Elon students will now be immersed with students from other universities rather than only studying and living with others from Elon, addressing one of students' main concerns.

"I really wanted to interact with students outside of Elon and other than Americans," said senior Sarah Clancy, who went abroad with the Elon Centre in London last spring. "At times it felt like we brought the Elon bubble with us and were floating around London in it."

In the current program students have to commute on the tube system or take a very long walk to get to class, according to Pelton, but the new program will house students within walking distance of the academic buildings. But for some students, the 30-minute commute was a part of being integrated in the city's culture.

"I felt like a part of the London life having to ride the bus or tube to get to class," Higgins said. "It gave me time to people watch."

Senior Ian Boyd, who also studied with the Elon Centre in London last spring, said although he loved his experience in London, he was pleased to hear about the changes being made.

"The students who experience the new London program will be very lucky people," he said.

Senior Kara Schillings, who studied abroad at the Elon Centre in London her sophomore year, said when she returned to Elon her London cohort took a few complaints to the Isabella Cannon International Centre concerning the venue where they took classes in London, and also issues they experienced with the housing company being "unprofessional and unresponsive."

Under the new company, the cost of the program will not be drastically different, according to Pelton.

"Will it go up?" he said. "Yes. But it goes up every year"