GRADUATED TRAVEL

 Where are all of today's young travelers?  This month, millions of Americans will graduate from high school or college. Most will find short-term jobs or spend the summer months on local activities before moving on to the next stage of their lives. Twenty or 30 years ago, however, it was much more common for young graduates to take several months off from the pursuit of their education or careers to see the world. With weighty backpacks, light wallets and a healthy wanderlust, they'd head across the United States or visit Europe or the Far East, traveling via rail pass or hitchhiking to experience whatever adventures came their way. That globe-trotting was generally accepted to be an important, if informal, part of their post-graduate education.  Personal exposure to other places, people and cultures is a natural antidote for the mistaken, and all too common, belief of young people that the entire world revolves around both them and the United States. Travel can also provide young minds with new measures of life's quality and value, broaden their perspectives, and foster global consciousness.

Unfortunately, fewer young Americans seem to be taking advantage of that "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to travel. Though youth hostels around the world are filled with travelers aged 16 to 26, relatively few are American. Instead, the wandering youth seem primarily to be from Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan.  As America's colleges and univer sities focus less on liberal arts and more on education for the work place, are graduates of today as inclined as their predecessors to invest their time in worldly exploration? How many of these graduates mistake their virtual adventures on the World Wide Web for the real thing?  Remember, travel is a broadening experience. So parents and grandparents, give the gift of travel. Encourage young graduates to get out and explore the world while they can, before taking on the full weight of life's responsibilities. It's a gift they'll always treasure.  *  Here's another approach parents and students can take to make foreign travel educational.  Last year, more than 100,000 American high school and college students actually attended classes abroad. Foreign studies can be enriching, improving students' language skills, providing exposure to new academic pursuits and broadening their world perspectives. Yet, studying abroad can also be expensive and not all programs are created equal.  Many of the programs, for example, are run by colleges and universities both here and abroad. Many others, particularly those that focus on foreign language studies, are operated by for-profit institutions. And there's been a boom in local programs put together by special-interest groups and tourist organizations.  The primary concern should always be how the program and its location will help further the student's academic and personal goals. Other questions to ask: How is the pro gram administered? What kind of housing is provided? What are the program's complete costs? How do you apply? How much language skill is required? Can the course credits be transferred to other institutions? How much cross-cultural preparation and re-entry guidance are provided?  Picking a high-school-level course may require more checking than college programs, which are often associated with established universities.  There are several huge directories for college-level programs, including Peterson's Study Abroad (800-338-3282 or www.petersens.com), and The Academic Year Abroad, which is published by the Institute of International Education (212-883-8200 www.iie.org), a nonprofit organization that administers more than 240 educational programs for students from 170 nations around the world, including coveted Fulbright grants.  The Council on International Educational Exchange (888-COUNCIL or www.ciee.org) links study-abroad programs at 36 universities and 200 secondary schools, in addition to a retail network of more than 50 travel offices worldwide that focus on the special needs of the student/youth study market.  Then there's the Semester at Sea program operated by the Institute for Shipboard Education (800-854-0195 or www.semesteratsea.com) and supported by the University of Pittsburgh. More than 600 students, young and old, sail in globe-girdling, three-month voyages of discovery, taking college-level courses along the way. The next departure, for this fall's term, already has a long waiting list.  Finally, Transitions Abroad (413-256-3414; www.transitionsabroad. com) is a bimonthly magazine that lists adult education courses abroad, as well as teaching, travel, job and volunteer opportunities.  

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