History:

Founding
In the midst of the Great Depression, Dr. Donald Watt, a former personnel director for Syracuse University, hit upon a simple idea to improve understanding across nations and cultures: By living with students in another country, young Americans could learn to think of them not as categories, but as people.

So, when the first Experiment in International Living group departed New York in June 1932 on a ship bound for Germany, the 23 students on board became trailblazers for thousands who have followed in their footsteps, building friendships and learning to walk across differences. The students on that first program returned home with a transformed outlook on the world and new skills to communicate with others.

Working in Communities
As The Experiment grew and more students began to travel to developing countries, many witnessed first-hand the impact of refugee crises, poverty, and conflict. Some took the initiative to step in and help alongside their new friends in refugee camps in Thailand, poor villages in Latin America, and cooperative farms in Zimbabwe.

World Learning realized that we could and should do more to help ease human suffering and build local self-reliance in the communities where we worked. So we added a "doing" arm to our learning organization. Today, World Learning is on the ground in nearly 20 developing countries, working with AIDS orphans, trafficked children, women’s groups, and others to build local capacity for change.

Building Critical Skills
When Sargent Shriver, an Experimenter in 1934, was tapped in 1961 by President Kennedy to lead the Peace Corps, he drew on his experiences with The Experiment, forging a bond between our two organizations that has strengthened over time. In 1964, the SIT Graduate Institute (formerly the School for International Training) was founded as a training center for the first generation of Peace Corps Volunteers. Today, SIT Graduate Institute offers a robust set of graduate and continuing education programs designed to meet the pressing need for trained professionals with the skills to address global issues.

Global Impact
Over the last 75 years, our programs have changed the lives of more than 100,000 people, including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and Nobel Peace Prize winners Jody Williams and Wangari Maathai. Today, through study abroad, graduate education, and community projects, World Learning helps 3,000 Americans a year become more effective global citizens and supports countless others to improve their lives and become leaders of change in their communities.