Study Abroad Levels: Toward a Classification of Program Types

The time is right for change. International educators and administrators have begun to re-orient their focus from an appraisal of the sheer numbers of students participating in international education to the quality of their experiences abroad. The fact that we in the profession speak more frequently of language acquisition and cross-cultural competence, of outcomes and their assessments, bespeaks a long-needed shift in emphasis. As we begin to gather assessment data about study abroad outcomes, how can we analyze it intelligently when we have no precise language to differentiate or categorize the types of study abroad experiences associated with that data?2 How can we contribute to the clear articulation of educational goals in study abroad, goals that can serve as a counterweight to more and more prevalent “student client” expectations? How—drawing students out of their “comfort zones” instead of creating such zones abroad—can we bring renewed value and prestige to the rewarding difficulty and essential challenge inherent in the process of adaptation to cultural difference? As the statistics of Open Doors each year reveal, overall numbers of U.S. overseas study participants have increased steadily and, at times, impressively during the last two decades. And, with study abroad becoming each year a more attractive “recruiting tool” in the “market” for prospective students, such increases in numbers will likely continue. Unfortunately, the road toward rising student participation is insuffi-