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Working Together to Increase Study Abroad Participation: Background, Resources, and Information from the First IIE Generation Study Abroad Summit


Gary Rhodes
Associate Dean, International Education & Senior International Officer,
College of Extended & International Education
Director, Center for Global Education
California State University at Dominguez Hills


In a previous Terra Dotta Newsletter, I highlighted the efforts of the Institute of International Education (IIE) to support an increase in study abroad participation at U.S. colleges and universities through their Generation Study Abroad initiative.  Since that time, I have been impressed by the continuing effort by IIE to move this initiative forward.  As I will highlight later, the recent IIE Generation Study Abroad Summit was an important move forward by the field to focus on increasing both for-credit study abroad and other non-credit international experiences for students.  An impressive part of the proceedings is that notes were taken during sessions and PowerPoint presentations have also been made accessible following the end of the Summit (more about that later).
 

Background:  Organizations Supporting Study Abroad & Study Abroad Growth

Prior to the Generation Study Abroad initiative, many in the field of study abroad saw IIE as an organization that collected data (IIE Open Doors) and provided funding opportunities for international research and study (Gilman, Fulbright, etc.).  When thinking about increasing study abroad participation, the field looked more to NAFSA:  Association of International Educators and the Forum on Education Abroad.

NAFSA:  Association of International Educators (www.nafsa.org) was founded in 1948 (after the Second World War) as the “National Association of Foreign Student Advisors”.  Although initially founded to support international students coming to the U.S., it has broadened its scope to all areas of international education support and has done much to professionalize study abroad and grow participation.  About 10,000 people from around the world attend their conference, which focuses on a broad range of international education issues, including study abroad.  It describes itself as:  "the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education and exchange. NAFSA's 10,000 members from more than 3,500 institutions, in over 150 countries are administrators, advisors, instructors, students, advocates, volunteers, and all those committed to the growth of international education.” (http://www.nafsa.org/Learn_About_NAFSA/Membership).

The Forum on Education Abroad (www.forumea.org) highlights having 733 institutional members, which includes 465 U.S. colleges and universities, 67 U.S.-based program providers, 62 non-U.S. universities, 56 U.S. community colleges, 28 affiliates, and 27 non-U.S. based program providers.  The Forum describes itself as an institution that:  “focuses on developing and implementing standards of good practice, encouraging and supporting research initiatives, and offering educational programs and resources to its members.  Its mission is to help to improve education abroad programs to benefit the students that participate in them.  It is achieving this goal by establishing standards of good practice and quality assurance programs, improving education abroad curricula, and promoting data collection and outcomes assessment, all to advocate for high quality education abroad programs (https://www.forumea.org/about-us/who-we-are).  It was started by active members of NAFSA:  Association of International Educators who were interested in seeing additional attention focused on study abroad (referred to by the Forum as “education abroad”).  Along with being an association to support the field, it is formally a “standards organization”:  The Forum on Education Abroad is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, membership association recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission as the Standards Development Organization (SDO) for the field of education abroad (https://www.forumea.org/about-us).  Unlike NAFSA and IIE, the motivation for developing the Forum on Education Abroad was not a response to the First or Second World War, but on increasing professionalization and providing support to the study abroad field as a whole.

The Institute of International Education (IIE) is actually the oldest of the three (3) organizations.  It was founded in 1919 (after the First World War) and describes itself as: “a private not-for-profit leader in the international exchange of people and ideas.  In collaboration with governments, foundations and other sponsors, IIE creates programs of study and training for students, educators and professionals from all sectors.  These programs include the flagship Fulbright Program and Gilman Scholarships administered for the U.S. Department of State.  IIE also conducts policy research, provides resources on international exchange opportunities and offers support to scholars in danger.”

Other Efforts to Significantly Increase Study Abroad Participation:  The Lincoln Commission and the Paul Simon Study Abroad Act

Before IIE’s Generation Study Abroad initiative, there was an effort led by NAFSA:  Association of International Education and APLU (Association of Public & Land Grant Universities) and others to support the Paul Simon Study Abroad Act.  This effort’s goal was to have one (1) million study abroad students by 2020.  This effort was supported through the Lincoln Commission, which published a report in November 2005, advocating for increasing study abroad participation.  Although there was federal government support and the initiative did pass the House of Representatives, it was not approved by the U.S. Senate and as a result, not funded.
 

An Update on the IIE Generation Study Abroad Initiative

Whereas the NAFSA/APLU initiative focused on 1 million students studying abroad for credit by 2020, the IIE Generation Study Abroad Initiative seeks to double study abroad participation, including for-credit and non-credit experiences to 600,000 by the IIE Centennial celebration in 2019:

According to the Open Doors Report on International and Educational Exchange, 295,000 American college students studied abroad in 2011/12 in credit-bearing and non-credit programs.  While that may sound like a lot, it in fact represents less than 10% of the 2.6 million students graduating with associates or baccalaureate degrees each year.

Generation Study AbroadTM seeks to address that shortfall by bringing employers, governments, associations, and others together to build on current best practices and find new ways to extend study abroad opportunities to tens of thousands of college students for whom traditional study abroad programs aren't working.

Generation Study Abroad is a five-year initiative of the Institute of International Education (IIE) to mobilize resources and commitments with the goal of doubling the number of U.S. students studying abroad by the end of the decade.  IIE is investing $2 million in the initiative and seeking funds to provide scholarships to college and high school students and grants to institutions.  The initiative, which is timed to coincide with IIE's centennial in 2019, will highlight IIE's commitment to study abroad and encourage purposeful, innovative action to get more Americans to undertake a meaningful international experience through academic study abroad programs, as well as internships, service learning, and non-credit educational experiences.

IIE currently has 630 Commitment Partners that have joined the initiative.  This includes 400 U.S. colleges & universities in 48 states, 100 international universities & organization from 36 countries, 25 education associations, 100 U.S. study abroad organizations, K-12, social networks & other services, and 14 governments (including U.S.).  400 teachers have pledged to be study abroad advocates.

This is only the second year of the IIE Generation Study Abroad initiative and you can access the year one report with first year commitment partner profiles at:  https://www.iie.org/Programs/Generation-Study-Abroad/About/Impact.  According to IIE, “higher education institutions, study abroad organizations and other partners that have joined IIE’s Generation Study Abroad initiative have committed $185 million in financial support over the next five years to make study abroad more accessible to all.  This funding will provide support to students, faculty and programming to expand study abroad opportunities over the next five years (https://www.iie.org/Who-We-Are/News-and-Events/Press-Center/Press-Releases/2015/2015-10-01-IIE-Announces-Impact-Of-Generation-Study-Abroad).”
 

The IIE Generation Study Abroad Summit

I found the IIE Generation Study Abroad Summit on October 1st and 2nd, 2015 to be different from the other conferences and workshops that I attend.  Rather than having many directions and issues, there was a clear focus:  working together to increase study abroad participation.  They had more than 650 participants, a larger number than they originally expected to participate.  It brought together education, government and business leaders and journalists in Washington, D.C.  IIE described the sessions as “action-oriented discussions on how to ensure international experience is a key part of a 21st Century education and make study abroad opportunities available to all.”

Sessions revolved around the following themes:

  • How can study abroad be redefined and rebranded for today's global economy?
  • What innovative solutions are most effective in increasing study abroad participation?
  • How does study abroad build a globally minded workforce?
  • What is the impact of study abroad?
     

I thought that the broad range of panels, which included representatives from various sectors was helpful.  Opportunities for networking were useful.  It was nice to see CEOs from various companies provide support for the importance of study abroad as well for professional development.

The best news about the sessions is that IIE has released the PowerPoints and notes for everyone, whether you attended the IIE Generation Study Abroad Summit or not.  You can find them at:  https://www.iie.org/Programs/GSA-Summit/Schedule/Panel-Sessions.

I look forward to collaborating with many of you in support of the IIE Generation Study Abroad initiative to increase international opportunities for students.