Retention & Graduation Rates from Participation in Short-Term Study Abroad Programs at Small Private Liberal Arts Institutions in the United States of America

Abstract

Over the past several decades, the number of students participating in international academic programming has increased drastically, having quintupled in from the early 1990s to 2017. Many of these students have participated in increasingly popular short-term programming models where students spend less than eight weeks in an international location doing academic coursework. Considerable research exists tying the participation in study abroad experiences to positive institutional and academic outcomes such as increased institutional retention and academic performance. Underrepresented in this literature is the impact these experiences have on smaller institutions, such as private liberal arts colleges, which are increasingly looking for ways to diversify themselves in a crowded educational marketplace. Using the case study of Moon Crest College, this quantitative study uses statistical and regression analysis to determine if participation in short-term study abroad experiences have a relationship with institutional retention and time-to-degree. This analysis finds at Moon Crest College a statistically significant relationship between participation in short-term study abroad experiences and graduating from the institution. This study found no clear relationship between participation in these experiences and time-to-degree rates at Moon Crest College.