The United States’ population is increasingly diverse — and so are college campuses. According to the American Council on Education, students of color comprised just under 30% of the undergraduate student population in 1996. By 2016, the total was up to 45%.

But even as our college campuses reflect a broader swath of Americans, study abroad students do not. The face of a typical study abroad student remains the same as it was decades ago: a white woman.
According to the 2019 Open Doors report, 30% of all U.S. study abroad students were a racial or ethnic minority during the 2017-18 academic year. That’s up from 18% in 2007-08, but the total still lags behind the diversity represented on college campuses across the country.