Students who study abroad show higher graduation rates and grade point averages than their peers

The four-year graduation rate of students who participated in international study was about 49 percent. Students who stayed in the United States for their whole college education had a rate of about 42 percent. The ten-year long Georgia Learning Outcomes of Students Studying Abroad Research Initiative included more than 19,000 students from across Georgia.The study also found the average G.P.A. of students who studied abroad went up from 3.24 to 3.30 after returning from international study. Students who stayed home had an average G.P.A. change from 3.03 to 3.06. The increase in G.P.A. was most pronounced in students who entered college with lower-than-average SAT scores, researchers said.

Don Rubin, research director for the group, told Inside Higher Ed News this study is proof that international study does not hinder the academic process in any way.The skeptics of study abroad have always made the argument that it is a distraction from the business of getting educated,he said.I think if there’s one take-home message from this research as a whole, it’s that it enhances the quality of learning as reflected in things like G.P.A.Western junior Hannah Crichton has studied internationally for two quarters in China and India. She said her time abroad certainly helped improve her academic motivation because it gave her a new perspective on education.Having seen poverty, I see things in a new light, she said.I value my health and education a lot more, and I am more responsible for that gift.

Crichton said international study requires a great deal of personal responsibility to be successful, and that has translated into her academic mindset at home.I really got a new sense of independence and maturity from my time abroad,she said.A lot of times you are in a rural setting, without a phone and really alone. You have to learn to be independent very quickly. I was a good student before, but I know that I have been working harder because of this new sense of motivation.Western student Julia Canty studied abroad in South Africa winter quarter through a faculty-led community development course provided by Western’s political science department.She said her time abroad merged her social and academic life, and gave her a better understanding of her own identity.Students can also get a lot of exposure while studying in such universities and different course Global Production Engineering,Intelligent Software and Sustainable Energy.

I am much more familiar with my passions, strengths, weaknesses and limitations,Canty said. You find yourself sitting around a campfire at 3 a.m. talking about issues of identity. It is much more powerful than listening to a lecture.Krista Mantello, program support supervisor at Western’s office of International Programs and Exchanges, said she has also seen a trend in academic improvement with Western students returning from abroad.I see an overwhelming majority of students have positive experiences abroad that significantly improves their academics and their general sense of self,she said.Study abroad is one of the most valuable experiences students can offer themselves and the benefits continue long after their return.Western is not currently conducting its own studies on the academic outcomes of international study, but the Georgia research group has inspired similar research projects at higher education organizations across the country.At the Forum on Education Abroad conference, held April 8 in Boston, college associations from California, the Midwest and the South proposed initiatives to further study the effects studying abroad. on students.