Top 20 Baccalaureate Colleges for Study Abroad Participation

MarathonMan88
Thu, 16 Nov 2006 22:56:40 +0000

I’m pretty sure that they get the figure by taking the total # of students studying abroad in 2004-5 (col 6–and this will contain freshmen through seniors) divided by the total undergraduate degrees conferred (col 7–basically the graduating seniors only). Their heading for the final column “estimated undergrad participation in study abroad” is maybe slightly misleading.

Interesteddad’s point is significant: these figure say little about the quality or duration of the study-abroad experiences. There’s a story, perhaps urban legend, about one of the colleges that claimed to send all of their students abroad. An admissions dean from a competing college asked, perhaps a little enviously, how they did it. The reply? “We put the ones who haven’t fulfilled the requirement on a cruise ship and make sure it leaves American waters.”