Study Abroad Advisor

International Education in the '90s

Study Abroad Advisers Reflect on the National Task Force Report

In its 1990 report A National Mandate for Education Abroad: Getting on with the Task, the NAFSA/CIEE/IIE National Task Force on Undergraduate Education Abroad made a number of recommendations:

• Ten percent of all U.S. undergraduates should study abroad.
• There should be greater diversity in the students that participate, in the foreign locations, and in the types of programs.
• Study abroad must be integrated into regular degree programs.
• Campus-based attitudes and policies that inhibit study abroad must be addressed.
• "Expanded funding from both private and public sources will be essential if the academic community is to diversify the types of institutions, students, and experiences involved in study abroad in the years ahead."

It set 1995 for the achievement of many of these goals. To gauge how well we have met the report's goals Transitions Abroad sought comments from campus-based study abroad advisers and administrators. Transitions Abroad, as always, welcomes additional views.

Impact of Report

A variety of opinions exist on what, if any, impact the Report has had. There is confusion over whether each campus should aim for the 10 percent goal, or if this is a national composite figure. Differences between what is happening at small and large, and private and public, institutions are huge. Almost all respondents commented on the need for better national data than currently exists on education abroad activity

"The Report accorded well with the much greater international emphasis within U.S. higher education in the 1990s. It gave educators something to identify with, and offered campuses something to strive for."

--Barbara Burn, Univ. of Massachusetts at Amherst, Co-Chair, National Task Force

"The Task Force recommendations were far too optimistic, given the normal pace of (even accelerated) societal--not to mention academic--change. But we are indeed moving in the desired direction. The increasingly publicized internationalization of U.S. society is becoming more obvious. This awareness exerts an inexorable counterpressure to academic conservatism and financial restraint.We must cooperate in the search for programs that meet both student and university needs and host country capabilities and needs; and we must continue to spread the word creatively and energetically on our home campuses."

--John Sommer, School for International Training

"Because my institution was already sending significant numbers abroad, I emphasized increasing participation of male students and students of color, getting more students to nontraditional sites, and establishing better cooperation with faculty in order to approve courses taken elsewhere for credit."

--Ruth Mason, Gustavus Adolphus College

"The Task Force took the wrong boat because it focused almost exclusively on `institutions.' Students study abroad, institutions do not. Many students stay home because any desire they have for an `international experience' may not be as strong as their anxieties. Offering scholarships, declaring a `national mandate,' even providing a diversity of programs cannot change this. Only competent and informed study abroad `advisers' can help. Such counsel can also legitimately come from student returnees, faculty, family, or friends. Their words can persuade students that the enjoyment and satisfaction that go with an overseas experience far outweigh initial doubts and fears."

--Harlan Henson, Auburn Univ.

"Institutionally, progress has been made. In the past five years, my institution has initiated strategies to promote and support education abroad, especially making financial aid available to students. As a result, participation in study abroad programs has tripled. Nationally, the progress made cannot be so easily ascertained--we lack an accurate benchmark to measure current and future progress. Research conducted on certain groups or types of institutions could help construct a composite map of our national progress. It is time we advance from the anecdotal to the empirical stage."

--Maria Krane, Nebraska Wesleyan Univ.

"Villanova has moved from sending only 4 percent of its students abroad in 1986 to 32 percent in 1995. We have seen positive reactions from faculty and administration to the presence on campus of 'veterans' of overseas study."

--Tom Ricks, Villanova Univ.

"Most of our students are commuters with jobs and sometimes immense family commitments. Our total numbers abroad are thus still relatively small. Until recently we had no way to count all students who might have been or are now abroad. Now we have a form for students to self-report program participation beyond our own programs. This will give us more accurate information."

--Linda Marx, Univ. of Akron

"We work with faculty to list recommended study abroad programs and rewrite various publications to emphasize Yale's support of study abroad. We want a major increase in enrollment in foreign study programs (hopefully 50 percent by the year 2000), and an increase in international students at Yale. Things are moving in the right direction."

--Marge Matson, Yale Univ. 

Diversifying Program Sites

Noting that more undergraduates study in the U.K. than the total of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, the Report urged a "doubling" of students studying in these neglected areas. Respondents agreed that nothing close to a doubling has taken place. But they give evidence that more programs and students are heading in these less-traveled directions.

"The students who wish to study overseas remain largely white, upper-middle- class females. But one-third of our students do study outside Western Europe, with the majority in the Pacific Rim (equally divided between Japan and Australia, admittedly not diverse), and many in Eastern Europe, Russia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Villanova students also now go on a wider range of programs than before 1990."

--Tom Ricks, Villanova Univ.

"More students are going on our program to India, as well as to Africa and Latin America. Students recognize that they are able to go to such places--and they take chances more than they used to. While we should continue to encourage students to consider nontraditional sites, programs in traditional sites should emphasize the most important critical and perennial topics: identity and ethnicity, overpopulation, peace and justice, economic development, women's roles, and the like."

--Ruth Mason, Gustavus Adolphus College

"While our center for Global Education has programs in developing countries since 1979, the Report strengthened our commitment to education in those regions. That is one reason that we expanded our semester programs to include Mexico, Central America, and Namibia. We have received an enthusiastic response from students. All of our programs include regional travel to give the students a broader perspective on the issues they study. We utilize an experiential approach to teaching and learning which allows participants to learn about the host country from a wide range of individuals and organizations, reflecting on its differing economic, social, and political perspectives."

--Regina McGoff, Augsburg College

"SIT enrollment during 1990-95 shows that while our total enrollments have increased 87 percent, enrollment in `nontraditional' countries has gone up 106 percent. Students are indeed interested in living and learning in places other than Western Europe."

--John Sommer, School for International Training

"We were aware that for many minority students, European destinations were less appealing than non-European. I think that's changed. It is no longer the case that American institutions are not interested in sending students to non-European locations. But, for instance, most African institutions are not geared up to cope with them. This is less the case in Asia and Latin America."

--Barbara Burn, Univ. of Massachusetts at Amherst

Diversifying Students

Characterizing the "traditional" U.S. student abroad as coming from "affluent, middle- or upper-class, white professional families rather than from the broad spectrum of U.S. society," the Report urged "special measures, not the least of which may be special funding, to increase participation of underrepresented minorities, especially Blacks and Hispanics." Few respondents provided evidence that the overall situation has changed. On the other hand, special measures seem to be in effect on many campuses.

"With the help of a grant, we assessed how to better attract more students of color to our programs. Changes were made, and we are taking further steps. We have initiated a scholarship for a student of color to participate in our spring semester program in Namibia, and obtained additional scholarship monies this year to send three students of color on the Augsburg trip to Nicaragua."

--Regina McGoff, Augsburg College

"We now do a lot of outreach to students, even before they arrive on campus for the freshman year, especially to students planning to major in management, engineering, education, and nursing, for whom advance planning is especially important."

--Katherine Krebs, State Univ. of New York at Binghamton

"Since we are a state-supported, urban institution, it is very difficult to integrate study abroad into the curriculum--and impossible to mandate it, which would cause a very real hardship. Minority students, however, have always participated in our overseas programs, and returnees are the very best recruiters for other minority students."

--Linda Marx, Univ. of Akron

Diversifying Program Types

The Report urged the development of short-term programs and programs in disciplines across the curriculum, as well as internships, voluntary service, and work abroad. Our respondents give ample evidence that this sort of diversification is indeed happening. Not all, however, see this as a completely positive development. The language barrier prevents students from full-immersion experiences in most destinations beyond the English-speaking world.

"We believe that, if someone is not able to study abroad for a semester or year, a short-term educational program can provide meaningful contact with another culture. About half of our students enroll in our Weekend College, which incorporates on-campus class sessions with a 10-day study abroad program in Mexico. We utilize a similar format for a summer graduate program. It is particularly important to expose North Americans to the root causes of the poverty and injustice people in developing countries face."

--Regina McGoff, Augsburg College

"I do not think that most short-term programs provide enough time for the true benefits of living and learning overseas to take place, and they can too easily be turned into tourism. Short-term programs must make sure that students have no choice but to actively investigate their environment."

--Elizabeth Brewer, New School for Social Research

"We have a new International Studies Certificate program that can be completed with any major within the normal four undergraduate years. Students concentrate on a region or country. They study abroad or undertake an intercultural domestic internship, using a foreign language. In addition, they must take several related internationally focused courses. A reflective paper integrates both theoretical and experiential components."

--Katherine Krebs, State Univ. of New York at Binghamton

Faculty Involvement

The lack of committed faculty involvement in study abroad was seen by the Task Force as a primary inhibitor to its further growth and acceptance. Respondents detailed their efforts to encourage faculty to "become the legitimizers of the program on campus to their more parochial colleagues, to hesitant administrators, and to doubting parents."

"Attending department meetings to do presentations, then listening to their comments about returned students, has made for better rapport with faculty. By design I have worked more with mathematics, computer science, biology, biochemistry, geology, geography, economics, and education departments. Since these are traditional `male' areas, I now reach more male students. I make sure that the faculty understands that the often high-quality of work done by returned students is attributed in part to the overseas experience. I also encourage faculty to visit study abroad sites when possible, and I send program evaluation reports, course outlines, and syllabi."

--Ruth Mason, Gustavus Adolphus College

"Faculty were not involved in the establishment of our semester and year abroad programs, so they have felt little commitment to them. This is now slowly changing. Just this past year, there is growing support for more short-term programs. UA also offers students and others faculty-escorted overseas `travel adventures' through the School of Art and the Alumni Association."

--Linda Marx, Univ. of Akron

"Whether colleges and universities create their own programs or utilize other institutions' programs, they must initiate the effort themselves and develop ways to sustain it. Barbara Burn's recent Transitions Abroad essay on quality in study abroad is pertinent in this context. For study abroad to survive, strengthen, and diversify, it must be embedded in the fabric of each institution and its own academic programs. It cannot be a sideline, nor should it be an entrepreneurial function meant to generate income. It is critical that faculty are intimately involved, so that it is seen as an expected and `normal' part of degree studies."

--Elizabeth Brewer, New School for Social Research

New Partnerships

While the Task Force Report was aimed at institutional reform, it also stressed that "getting on with the task" would require more inter-institutional cooperation and national advocacy. The Report asks all "existing organizations concerned with education abroad to ally themselves with others to see that education abroad is incorporated in all initiatives to educate for global competence."

"The Ohio International Consortium (OIC) identifies, develops, and expands the international activities of Ohio public universities. It allows us collectively to maximize existing resources and to minimize duplication through interinstitutional cooperation. We have a broad range of activities, from informal discussions to joint programs and Title VI proposals, and the OIC has helped us promote faculty research and exchanges with foreign institutions. We think that it will foster cooperation with Ohio businesses, communities, and government."

--Linda Marx, Univ. of Akron

"We help other institutions diversify their study abroad and/or faculty development offerings. We provide other institutions with in-depth, onsite programming that complements their own resources. We work with the Univ. of Puget Sound and Baldwin-Wallace College for programs to Central America; with Gettysburg College and Concordia College for faculty development training programs in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, South Africa, and Chile; and with Simpson College and Drake Univ. for programs to Central America. We have also negotiated consortia agreements with several institutions to use our semester abroad programs to complement their other study abroad destinations and minimize internal resource loss. These agreements allow a sliding fee schedule, so students pay fees closer to what they would pay at their home school."

--Regina McGoff, Augsburg College

"Study Abroad is more an integrated part of university-wide academic programs. This is primarily due to affiliation agreements and student exchanges in the fields of law (Univ. of Haifa), business (Espeme FR, ICADE, SP and Bethlehem Univ./Occ. West Bank), nursing (Kings College, U.K. and Jordan Univ. of Science and Technology, Jordan), and engineering (Univ. of Manchester, U.K.).

--Tom Ricks, Villanova Univ.

Financial Aid and New Funding

The Task Force was very clear that meeting its goals would require economic resources beyond those controlled by either private or public institutions. The subsequent re-authorization of the Higher Education Act made Federal financial aid for study abroad considerably more available, and the establishment of the National Security Education Act established important (though now threatened) financial incentives for study in less traditional areas. Our respondents report other initiatives as well. However, the fear of tuition drain remains a check on growth for private colleges.

"In 1993, Brown received a grant as part of a competition between the U.S. and the European Community. We joined with the Univ. of Minnesota and two European institutions. As a part of our Foreign Language Across the Curriculum (FLAC) program, we offered a senior seminar in French and another with an added French language discussion section. The French Department has offered French for International Relations. We also developed a German language discussion section to a political science lecture course.

"FLAC courses are an excellent extension of the study abroad concept--students are encouraged to gain exposure to the academic discourse of their field in their second language before heading abroad. We also encourage students returning from abroad to enroll in FLAC courses, since many wish to continue working with the language, though not necessarily in literature or culture courses. We continue to seek ways to expand our FLAC offerings in more languages."

--Kirstin Moritz, Merle Kreuger, Brown Univ.

"The goal of 10 percent is unrealistic, as is dependence on federal aid to assist with internationalization, at the moment."

--Elizabeth Brewer, New School for Social Research

"Major inhibitors remain, chief being the cost to the institution of letting students take their tuition and financial aid elsewhere. Our generous policy has been questioned over and over, but has, thank goodness, not yet changed."

--Ruth Mason, Gustavus Adolphus College

"We secured a grant enabling students, faculty, and staff to go on a short-term program to Mexico for $250 per person. Several of the students have gone on to study abroad for a semester. The program has been moved this year to Nicaragua, a less traditional study abroad destination."

--Regina McGoff, Augsburg College

"Federal funding hasn't come through. What support there has been is now jeopardized. I find it appalling how few faculty members, even foreign language teachers, know what's at stake in Washington these days, and are ready to go to bat for it. Universities and the professional associations (NAFSA, IIE, CIEE, AIEA, etc.) have to work together for this kind of support."

--Barbara Burn, Univ. of Massachusetts at Amherst

As the evidence suggests, we are a long way from accomplishing the goals set forth in 1990. Further, the current national mood, at least as expressed by those in power in Washington, D.C., creates additional obstacles to overcome, with fewer resources. But, for better or worse, what is happening on U.S. campuses with regard to internationalization has a momentum of its own. Education abroad is, at its best, an enrichment and diversification of education, not a threat to it. Students will indeed compete for jobs and advancements in their careers in an ever-dependent, cross-culturally complex, global marketplace. Thus, both as a part of degree studies and as preparation for the `real world,' support for education abroad will remain a vital component of what students need and institutions must provide in any and all ways possible.

BILL HOFFA is an independent consultant in international education.