First-year study abroad gains popularity in US

A growing number of US universities are asking their freshmen to study abroad, calling it a transformative experience that should not be routinely reserved for students in their later years.

The practice, while still relatively rare in the US, has been expanding in recent years at larger institutions that include Florida State, New York, Northeastern and Syracuse universities, as well as smaller campuses such as Bard, Colby, Kenyon, Marist, Skidmore and Wheaton colleges.

Wheaton, a private liberal arts and sciences institution about 40 miles south of Boston, admits about 500 students a year and has now chosen seven of them to begin their college careers this coming semester in Australia, Spain, France or Switzerland.

“Studying abroad is typically such a high-impact experience that it influences the rest of the choices that students make about the remainder of their college career,” said a Wheaton spokesman.

Northeastern University, meanwhile, is one of the more prominent – and controversial – practitioners of the concept. Northeastern began its programme in 2007 and now sends students to 11 different overseas locations beyond its main undergraduate campuses in Boston, London and Oakland, California. It plans to receive about 2,650 new students this autumn in Boston, and 3,280 at its other locations.

The students who begin overseas have grade-point averages “equal to those who take the more traditional path”, said a university spokeswoman. It and other international programmes at Northeastern have clear social and educational benefits for the students, and help the university “admit more students than would otherwise be possible”, she said.

Northeastern has, however, faced some questions for its policy of admitting many of those students on the condition that they agree to begin their collegiate careers abroad, potentially forcing the students into a stressful situation before they are ready, and leaving them socially isolated when they finally begin their studies in Boston.

Many other institutions make clear the voluntary nature of their programmes, which involve smaller shares of their incoming student body. Wheaton isn’t saying how big it expects its programme to eventually become, but campus officials noted the importance of the programme’s small size in helping to ensure that the seven first-time students do well with it.

“I am glad it is a small group so that I can give them individualised attention,” said Gretchen Young, Wheaton’s dean of global education. “I am in regular contact with each participant.”

The students sent abroad are allowed to return to the main campus in Massachusetts if they make that decision before the second week of classes, and Wheaton has no intention of making the programme a mandatory condition of admission for any students, college officials said.

After studying the experiences of other institutions, Ms Young said that critical elements of the Wheaton programme include having the students visit the main campus ahead of their first semester for an orientation, and assigning staff to help the students during their overseas postings reflect on their surroundings and engage meaningfully with the communities.

“Research on study abroad and student development shows that studying abroad, in and of itself, often does not help students learn cultural humility,” she said.

Nafsa, the leading association of international education professionals, said it’s seen the growth in first-year abroad programmes in the US and generally welcomes the development.

The programmes can help students begin their college careers inside smaller cohorts, and help institutions add capacity, said Caroline Donovan White, Nafsa’s senior director of education abroad and volunteer engagement.

At the same time, Ms White said, “institutions must be intentional with their design and consider how the students will be integrated to the campus community upon their return.”

paul.basken@timeshighereducation.com