What Will it Take to Double Study Abroad?

Generation Study Abroad is a five-year initiative that seeks to double the number of U.S. students studying abroad through credit or non-credit programs. In order to be successful, Generation Study Abroad must build a coalition of like-minded organizations both within the higher education industry and beyond.

IIE took the first step in engaging a diverse group of professionals as it held its first “Generation Study Abroad Think Tank” in New York on March 12. Professionals from higher education, NGOs, associations, non-profits, government and the private sector came together to brainstorm ideas surrounding the question: What will it take to double?

The outcomes from the day have been documented in the first Generation Study Abroad “green paper,” so titled because it has been created not as a final product but a living document to which additional ideas will be added. This green paper lays the foundation for an ongoing discussion around how to increase the number of students studying abroad in the short term and to shift the paradigm over the long term.

You will see that the ideas and actions proposed by the Think Tank range from technical solutions to proposing radical change. As the Institute moves into the next phase of Generation Study Abroad, we hope that this green paper inspires and provokes discussion among existing and new stakeholders, and invites readers to offer new and expanded specific actions that build on this foundation so that together we can affect real change in study abroad.