Elon is going to the Big Apple Fall 2014.

The Study USA office recently announced plans to expand its Elon in New York City program from a summer offering to a semester-long experience living in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Through a partnership with Marymount Manhattan College, the first class of Elon students will take 12 credits at the college, in addition to a professional development class with an internship component taught by an Elon staff member.

“It’s something we’ve been considering for a while now, and the move will allow students looking for a bit of a fuller experience the chance to find that,” said Phil Smith, interim director of Study USA.

Finding students to fill the 20 slots the program is looking to fill in its first year is an ongoing process, and the application deadline has been extended until April 25. According to Connie Book, associate provost of academic affairs, the pilot program will require a minimum of 12 students to get off the ground.

The internship opportunities in the biggest city in the United States are almost endless, she said, and Elon has a strong

alumni base in the area to support students looking to intern and search for possible careers.

“It’s New York City,” Book said. “The opportunities are everywhere. We just need to find those brave guinea-pig students to get it started.”

The semester-long program is similar to the two-year-old Elon in Los Angeles semester program, which runs in the spring.

“We see a certain type of student interested in the LA program, and we wanted to offer that semester length for students who might be more interested in New York than LA,” Book said.

In a world where many students communicate so much online, the idea of a physical campus where students spend all four years of college is losing relevance, according to Book.

“Study abroad is more popular than ever now,” she said. “You used to have this notion of spending all four years on a physical campus, but we’re not seeing students so tied to that idea anymore. Students are spending semesters, winter terms, even years abroad.”

Students interested in the Fall 2014 Elon in New York City program should contact the Study USA office at studyusua@elon.edu or (336) 278-6765.