Study abroad is easy and a good way to increase one's grade point average! True or not true? Discuss...

I posted this question over on IHEC Blog's Facebook page a short time ago and there wasn't much discussion so I thought I would post here to see what people think.


I typically post a study abroad related tweet of the day on IHEC Blog's Facebook page and I find the most interesting and provocative tweets to come from the students themselves who are preparing to study abroad and those who are currently studying abroad or those who have recently returned from study abroad [there is some great qualitative data on study abroad out there on Twitter that is worth mining if you ask me!]   As the autumn semester/quarter comes to an end I have seen an uptick in tweets about grades and grade point averages and my interpretation of all of these tweets is that the students feel study abroad is easy and provides a boost to their grade point average (GPA).  Following are two such tweets that helped form my analysis:

"SERIOUSLY. Why do study abroad grades not count towards my GPA. 3 As and an A- sofar. 3.92 GPA. I would love that to count thanks. #fuckk"

"can't bring myself to study when i know i only need a 20% to pass the class #studyabroad #passfail"

If I were to poll my study abroad colleagues here in the U.S. about the academic rigors of study abroad programming I anticipate an overwhelming consensus that high academic standards and expectations are well established across the field and that the majority of programs are not a GPA boost.  


Conversely, if I were to poll current/recent study abroad students I anticipate an overwhelming consensus that #studyabroad is indeed a GPA boost.


What are your thoughts on this...and what's up with a course that requires 20% to pass?!?!?


For the record, study abroad was indeed a rather large GPA boost for me as I received some of the best grades in my college career while I "studied" in Valladolid, Spain.  I'm not saying I didn't learn anything when I studied abroad.  In fact, I learned more when I studied abroad than I did in any other semester during my college career...

Working Theoretical Model of Undergraduate Sojourner Change

Back in 2000 I received my Master of Science in Family Science and I wrote my thesis on Undergraduate Sojourner Change as a Result of a Study Abroad Experience.  In the end, I came up with a working theoretical model of undergraduate sojourner change which I share here in this post. 


Working Theoretical Model of Undergraduate Sojourner Change by D Comp



Groundbreaking research it is not but it was my first dabbling into research and international education and it all took off for me from there.  You can read a shorter version of my thesis here (citation below):


Comp, D.  (2008, Spring).  Identifying Sojourner Change after a Study Abroad Experience: A Content Analysis Approach.  International Topics, 2 (1), 65-87.

Undergraduate International Studies and Research while Studying Abroad

I’m posting today about two excellent examples of journals published by undergraduate students on issues related to international studies.

First is Undergraduate Journal of International Studies, co-sponsored by The Center for the Study of Global Change at Indiana University Bloomington. You can access Undergraduate Journal of International Studies here.[1]

The second is Sojourn, sponsored by the International Studies program in the undergraduate College at The University of Chicago. You can access information on Sojourn here.

I imagine that undergraduate students at other institutions across the United States (as well as across the globe) are producing similar top quality publications. If you know of similar publications/efforts by undergraduates at any college or university in the world please leave details such as institution, name of publication and link in the comments section.

On a related note, I encourage any institutions/organizations who are members of the Forum on Education Abroad to consider nominating their students for the annual Forum Undergraduate Research Award. This is an excellent way to further engage undergraduate scholars in their international research efforts and a way for top nominees to get their work published in Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad and for winners an additional opportunity to present their research at a conference. You can learn more about the Forum on Education Abroad Undergraduate Research Award here. The next deadline for nominations is June 26, 2009!

You can access past Frontiers issues featuring articles in PDF format by undergraduate study abroad students here:

Volume XII: November 2005
Volume XIV: March 2007
Volume XVI: Spring 2008

Additionally, you may be very interested in reading the introduction to Frontiers volume XVI by Bernhard Streitwieser and Neal Sobania entitled “Overseeing Study Abroad Research: Challenges, Responsibilities and the Institutional Review Board” here.

[1] A special word of thanks to my colleague Kathleen Sideli, Associate Vice President for Overseas Study at Indiana University, for information on Undergraduate Journal of International Studies.