The University System of Georgia’s Consortium for Analysis of Student Success through International Education (CASSIE) released its findings this week that student participation in international education has a positive effect on learning outcomes.

“Students who study abroad enjoy an advantage in terms of timely graduation,” said Angela Bell, USG’s vice chancellor of Research and Policy Analysis. “These advantages are especially powerful for minority students and for students who receive need-based aid. Students who study abroad are more likely to graduate on time than those who do not.”

Released during International Education Week, which runs November 18-22, the research shows that after controlling for other factors, students who study abroad are nearly six percentage points more likely to graduate in four years, compared with their peers who do not study abroad.  They are nearly four percentage points more likely to graduate in six years. At graduation, their grade point averages are on average .11 points higher. The full results of the study are available online here.

The advantages of international study are even more striking for black and for Hispanic students. For example, black students who study abroad are nearly 10 percentage points more likely to graduate in six years, compared to black students who do not study abroad. Hispanic students who study abroad are about 13 percentage points more likely to graduate in four years, compared to Hispanic students who do not study abroad.

These findings, the USG’s Momentum Year focus on student success, and one of the goals of the new Strategic Plan 2024 are among the reasons the USG has invested in the USG Goes Global program. This new approach to study abroad programs is a collaboration among USG institutions to provide quality, affordable and impactful faculty-led study abroad opportunities to all USG undergraduate students.

USG Goes Global takes on the administration of running the programs, which reduces costs and frees faculty to focus on the academic oversight. It makes the experiences more beneficial for students while also increasing the availability of study abroad experiences for students at every institution. More information on USG Goes Global is available here.

Drawing on student data from all 26 USG institutions plus 17 public and private universities across the United States, CASSIE utilizes a big data approach to detecting trends among tens of thousands of student records. It also uses rigorous statistical matching techniques to help ensure that the patterns found are associated with studying abroad and not with other factors such as students’ high school success or the particular institution in which they are enrolled.

A collaborative effort between USG’s Office of Research and Policy Analysis, Office of International Education, and a national not-for-profit agency, the Institute of International Education, CASSIE is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Division of International and Foreign Language Education.

International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education. Its goal is to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and experience cultural exchange.

Many USG institutions hosted International Education Week events on their campuses.  A list of some of those activities is available online here.

“The data from CASSIE’s good work proves the value of these experiences for students, and we plan to continue our efforts to provide international education opportunities to all students at every institution,” said Tammy Rosner, USG’s director of International Education. “We are building on the CASSIE data to grow USG Goes Global and help provide quality and affordable study abroad programs accessible to all USG students.”