Think of it as study abroad on steroids.

A growing number of American high school students are putting a whole new spin on the time-honored tradition of breaking up a conventional four-year college career to study abroad for a year. These students are choosing instead to enroll full-time schools overseas.

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While the free-falling U.S. dollar has made the move much more expensive, educators and study abroad experts don’t expect the currency woes to have a negative impact on the popularity of studying abroad full-time.

To be sure, the number of students choosing to receive their bachelor’s degrees at foreign universities pales in comparison to the much more popular and well-known study abroad program. According to the Institute of International Education, study abroad programs increased 8.5% to a total of 223,534 in 2007, with more than half of them going to Europe. Precise data on the number of Americans going abroad full-time isn’t available but some nations do track the number of incoming U.S. students.

The United Kingdom, the most popular destination for U.S. students, has seen a sharp increase over the past several years: Attendance of U.S. students seeking a bachelor’s in the U.K. rose 7% between 2005-06 and 2006-07, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency in the U.K. Research at the master's and doctoral levels jumped 10% over that span. Despite the attendance increases, the number of Americans seeking a degree in the U.K. is still relatively small, with just 22,245 students making the leap across the pond in 2006-2007.

“It’s definitely become more popular. It’s on everybody’s radar a little more,” said Jeff Palm, president of Center for International Studies.

Experts said full-degree overseas programs have been a popular choice among those seeking a career in foreign countries, those born outside the U.S., and students simply looking to expand their horizons.

“It’s just such a wonderful experience that it is effectively life-changing…It can definitely round them off and give them quite a different perspective on life,” said John McPartland, director of the international office at Trinity College in Dublin, which has about 2,300 students enrolled in study programs. 

“We have become quite active [recruiting] in the United States, particularly on the East Coast. But who knows with your dollar right now…We have had a couple of students who have spoken to us about the weakening U.S. dollar and the impact it may have,” said McPartland.

The euro is now worth more than $1.55, compared to $1.33 just a year ago. The conversion rate can have a big impact on overseas traveling, as evidenced by the influx of Europeans in tourist hubs like New York, as well as apprehension by Americans to travel to Euro-zone nations like Ireland and Germany.

But so far so good for many European colleges.

“We were concerned that our applications from the U.S. would go down, but they didn’t -- they went up,” said Morton Mendelson, deputy provost for student life and learning at McGill University in Montreal. McGill is another top destination for Americans, with 2,000 out of its 32,000 students coming from the U.S.

Even as McGill’s applications are increasing, the new-found parity between Canadian and American currencies has had a big impact on costs. Though McGill only boosted its minimum tuition and room and board prices this academic year by $1,100, the new costs translate to a $4,300 increase for American students.

Many foreign schools try to counter the downsides in exchange rates by reminding students it only takes three years to achieve a bachelor’s and one year for a master’s using their trimester systems. A number of schools also offer doctorate degrees in three to four years rather than five or six in U.S. schools. And despite studying abroad, students can still receive federal Stafford loans.

Experts also point to the option of studying in non-English speaking regions like South America, where the dollar is still strong. But students usually have to be persuaded to see the value in such a decision.

“When you talk dollars and cents to students, the dollar factor just doesn’t sink in. If you talk to a student about the value of going to Argentina instead of Spain, they are still going to go to Spain because that’s where they want go,” said John Duncan of CollegeAbroad.com.

“At the end of the day, cost is a potential cautionary point, but the students looking to go overseas aren’t driven by that,” said Duncan.

Instead, they are usually driven by the experience they hope to receive by studying in a foreign land -- the value of which is not likely to be impacted by the latest exchange rate.