In addition to study abroad, Lyon College offers a category of overseas experience known as Nichols Trips in recognition of the Nichols family who generously funded these trips in the early years. These trips are not classified as study abroad because they do not involve formal classes and are of very short duration. Nichols Trips are faculty-led tours of selected countries or cities, last approximately two weeks, and usually take place in mid- to late May. For Nichols Trips, students pay a $1200 course fee, and, if eligible, receive a $1800 grant from the College.
Nichols Trips were created specifically for students who, for some reason, absolutely cannot study overseas. Because research supports the idea that students benefit much more from longer term study abroad and because studying abroad for a month or more qualifies students to use their financial aid to cover expenses and establishes their eligibility for outside study abroad scholarships and for higher levels of College aid (from $2000 to $3000), we still recommend that students choose study abroad over Nichols Trips.
A Nichols Trip begins with a faculty proposal to a faculty committee. After a proposal has been approved, the process for initiating a Nichols Trip starts with a public faculty presentation of the details of the proposed trip, either online or in-person. Interested students then sign up for a trip. Once enrollment reaches nine students, the College provides funding in the form of grants per student which are used to cover most of the expenses of the trip. Past destinations for trips include Belize, New Zealand, Poland, Italy, and the U.K.
The following are some questions which you might find useful in selecting a Nichols Trip:
Will I receive some sort of pre-departure preparation from my trip leader in order to insure that I am prepared to get the most out of the experience?
Is the trip just tourist travel or does it offer some real opportunities to connect with a foreign culture?
Will the trip expand my knowledge of areas in which I have a particular knowledge? Will the trip help me achieve particular academic goals?
Is the trip itinerary well-paced so that I will have a chance to absorb what I experience?
Does the trip design include opportunities for me to discuss and process what I have seen and experienced?
There are a few additional considerations to bear in mind when considering enrolling in a Nichols Trip. First, since you can only use a College international grant once, you will be trading an $1800 grant for the $2000 or $3000 grant you could get for a longer study abroad. Second, you will be living and traveling, and sharing a room with members of the same group for two weeks. Do you have sufficient discipline and interpersonal skills to manage this comfortably? Another possible area of concern is your ability to handle the activities in the trip itinerary. Many trips include physical activities such as walking or bicycling. Are you physically able to manage the activities of the trip? Also, despite what you may have heard, Nichols Trips do have rules of conduct and the group leader is empowered to remove a student whose presence is deemed damaging to the welfare or reputation of the group or the College. If this happens, the student in question will be sent home and will have to reimburse any expenses paid on his/her behalf by the College.
Beginning in fall of 2020, the applications for Nichols Trips will be available online. Because Nichols trips carry a single credit, you must register for your chosen trip with the Registrar's Office. Since the timeline for preparing for Nichols Trips is fairly short and processing times for Government documents seem to be growing longer and longer, please apply for your passport as soon as you begin to think about enrolling in a Nichols Trip.