Effects of Study Abroad Participation on Student Graduation Rates: A Study of Three Incoming Freshman Cohorts at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Abstract

Study abroad participation is increasing. National and institutional resources are being devoted to internationalization. Assessments stress the importance of learning outcomes among study abroad participants. The confluence of these influences led the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, to gather data on graduation rates of study abroad participants and compare them to those of non-participants. We analyzed the data and the patterns that emerge among subsets of the students by college of enrollment and for students of color. The data suggest that study abroad participation may not harm graduation rates and that it is highly correlated with high graduation rates among under-prepared and at-risk undergraduates as well as students of color. We highlight the implications of the study for academic advisors.Relative Emphasis: practice, research, theory