Education Abroad and College Completion
Rachana Bhatt1, Angela Bell1, Donald L Rubin2
1University System of Georgia, Atlanta, USA.
Research in Higher Education
|January 19, 2022
Summary
Studying abroad does not hinder college completion. Education abroad positively impacts graduation rates and GPA, promoting overall student success and timely degree attainment.
Area of Science:
- Higher Education
- International Education
- Student Success
Background:
- Debate exists on whether studying abroad aids or hinders academic progress.
- International education is considered a high-impact practice for student engagement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the impact of studying abroad on student academic outcomes.
- To determine if international education affects graduation rates and GPA.
Main Methods:
- Utilized semester-by-semester records from 221,981 students across 35 institutions.
- Employed nearest-neighbor matching techniques to control for confounding variables.
- Compared outcomes for 30,549 students who studied abroad versus those who did not.
Main Results:
- Studying abroad positively impacted 4- and 6-year graduation rates.
- International education was associated with a higher cumulative GPA at graduation.
- A slight increase in credit hours was offset by a decrease in time-to-degree.
Conclusions:
- Studying abroad does not impede timely graduation.
- Encouraging international education experiences promotes college completion.
- Positive effects were consistent across varying study abroad durations and multiple experiences.
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