It’s Time to Rethink Study Abroad

Following is a guest post by Mark Salisbury,  director of institutional research and assessment at Augustana College, in Illinois. For the folks who have been fervently trying over the past decade to persuade more—if not most—undergraduates to study abroad, the almost flat change in participation from 2009-10 to 2010-11, as found in the latest “Open Doors” report, probably didn’t inspire much of a celebration. After several years of more-substantial growth, “Open Doors” reported a measly increase of about 3,000 students, just over 1 percent. Commenting on the lack of growth, Peggy Blumenthal, senior counsel at the Institute of International Education, which produced the report, said: “We’re going to have to find other ways to internationalize the thinking of Americans if we’re not going to get them all abroad.”
When I read Blumenthal’s reaction in The Chronicle, I wanted to crack open a bottle of bubbly. Because in one sentence, she captured the fundamental shift in thinking that can make study abroad realize its educational potential. If international educators can mobilize behind her charge, this seemingly grim report may mark the moment that study abroad got its groove back. View more...