Baylor in St Andrews Anchors Honors College Commitment to Global Education

For nearly two decades, Baylor students have crossed the Atlantic to study at the University of St Andrews, drawn by its storied academic traditions and distinctive coastal setting. Now, Baylor in St Andrews is entering a new chapter as the Honors College strengthens its leadership of the semester-long program, positioning it as a signature global experience that reflects the College’s commitment to academic rigor, student formation and meaningful engagement with the wider world.

“By identifying Baylor in St Andrews as a signature program, we’re signaling a bold, long-term commitment to present and future excellence,” Dean Douglas Henry, Ph.D., said. “A decade from now, I can imagine a few hundred Honors College students on whom a semester in St Andrews has made an indelible mark and enabled brilliant success.”

First envisioned twenty years ago, the program has connected Baylor students with one of the world’s oldest universities. In a deepened partnership with the Center for Global Engagement, the Honors College is stepping into ongoing leadership with the goal of offering the program consistently and expanding its impact for students in the years ahead.

The shift reflects the Honors College’s broader commitment to expanding global learning opportunities and preparing students to engage a complex and interconnected world.

“Baylor in Deeds’ third commitment is building a vibrant, caring, global community,” Henry said. “We do this because, as President Livingstone has said, ‘the world needs a Baylor.’ But before our graduates can offer the worldwide leadership and service to which the university mission points, they need to see, encounter, and make sense of that world. There is no substitute for first-hand experience.”

Founded in 1413, the University of St Andrews is known for its hybrid lecture-tutorial model, close faculty engagement and highly international student body that brings together perspectives from across the globe. These features contribute to the distinctive academic environment students encounter during the semester abroad.

For faculty who lead the program, much of its impact comes from the independence students discover during their semester abroad. Eric Martin, Ph.D., associate professor of the history and philosophy of science in the Great Texts program and in Scotland leading this semester’s program, said students often grow in confidence as they take greater ownership of their learning and daily lives.

“I see students really take the reins of their own educations while in St Andrews. They pursue the courses they want to take – and decide how seriously to invest in them,” Martin said. “A distinctive benefit of this program is that it allows full immersion into a world-class foreign university along with a ready-made community of fellow Baylor Bears. This Baylor community provides a kind of home base from which to branch out, explore, and then return to. It’s really the best of both worlds: genuine study abroad alongside a Baylor cohort.”

Martin said the program also fosters confidence and a deeper sense of perspective.

“Study abroad engenders a tremendous sense of self-confidence. When students realize that they can figure out a foreign country’s train system on their own, that opens a whole world of confidence – which surpasses merely getting around and extends to many other corners of life as well.”

Students say the semester offers both academic depth and meaningful personal growth. St Andrews program alumnus and University Scholar Zach Miyazaki said the experience broadened his perspective in ways he did not expect.

“Academically, my studies felt more akin to that of a graduate student in the U.S. insofar as my work was more self-directed in nature - fewer classes and assignments than my experience in the U.S., with an emphasis instead on a few heavily weighted essays and exams,” Miyazaki said. “Traveling to 11 countries reminded me of how vast the human experience is, and how similar we all are at the same time.” 

As Baylor in St Andrews moves forward under the leadership of the Honors College, Dean Henry sees the program as a defining expression of the College’s mission to form students who pursue knowledge with curiosity, engage the world with humility and carry their learning into lives of purpose.

“Through gains in confidence, savoir-faire, and deep learning in an international setting, I anticipate stronger professional outcomes as graduates,” Henry said. “Even more, I hope they'll understand better the life to which God calls us in Christ, one that graciously extends ourselves through love and learning alike to our neighbors near and far.”