The Future of Study Abroad

January 22, 2021

This post was written by Bailey Smith. Bailey is an intern for the Alhambra-U.S. Chamber.

For many students around the world, including a quarter-million American students every year, the chance to study in another country plays a formative role in their intellectual and personal development. In March of 2020, universities and governments around the world scrambled to get students that they had abroad to safety. For many students, this meant they had to pack their belongings and get home in a matter of days. For others, this meant that plans and preparations to travel had to be abruptly canceled. 

The double bind of bringing all students home and little immediate future of sending students abroad has had a tremendous financial impact on schools and study abroad service providers. Despite this, many schools are embracing and envisioning a variety of innovative solutions for the future of study abroad both for the short-term as well as the long-term.

Much like their parent schools, many study abroad centers have been working diligently to make a remote experience not only viable, but also as beneficial and enriching as possible. Virtual international education programs actually precede the pandemic. Indeed, the State University of New York’s Center for Online International Learning (COIL) has been in operation since 2006.

Proponents of these experiences argue that they offer many of the intercultural benefits without any of the additional overhead charges for things like room and board, or transportation. Additionally, these programs have the potential to make access to international learning more accessible and more equitable as over only 10% of American college graduates have some form of study abroad experience and 70%  of these students are white. Initial research into these virtual programs indicates that these programs show immense promise as long as they encourage class participation and interaction while minimizing out of class assignments that detract from exchange. 

Once it is safe to do so, many universities and service providers are looking to join remote digital options with short-term “on the ground” sections to get the best of both worlds. Much like fully remote options, these hybrid programs have been in the works since well before the pandemic, but it has prompted a renewed interest in these programs. 

Indeed one model that was working well before the pandemic hit was to send students abroad for two to six weeks while incorporating virtual elements into the educational experience. Hybrid programs would allow subjects that do not format well into entirely online experiences- such as art and architecture- to get the most out of international education while also expanding the opportunities for students to learn about other subjects and cultures.  

Of course, this latter option is only possible once it is safe again to travel, so many think that many programs will have to remain remote or the time being. However, study abroad service providers like the Council on International Educational Exchange are optimistic that students will go on hybrid study abroad programs as soon as they can.