The topic of study abroad is often met with many questions about its impact, and with that, the impact relative to the length of time spent abroad. It begs a question that has yet to be quantified numerically and is more so met with the reviews and verbal responses of students who have gone abroad for any period of time whether it was an academic year, a semester, or a short-term program.
The Institute of International Education (IIE), has released its annual Open Doors report that is produced with funding by the U.S. Department of State. Their most recent report presents data from the 2017-18 academic year and reports that 64.6 percent of American students studying abroad do so through short-term programs. Short-term programs are defined as either summer programs or programs of eight weeks or less.
So if a majority of students are participating in short-term study abroad programs, is their experience less impactful than those who are abroad for longer lengths of time? Does the length of study abroad matter?
In our research study, The 2019 European Internship Impact Survey, we looked at how both study abroad and internships in Europe were evaluated by students on a variety of factors via an in-depth survey. In our second report, we dive into the factor of time and how it affects the perceived impact of students on their skill development and overall evaluation of their experience abroad in an attempt to answer the question:
“Does study abroad length matter?”
To find out if the duration of study abroad or internship abroad experience affects the impact, download our free report.
Does the Length of Study Abroad Matter?
In our second report from our 2019 European Internship Study, we dive into the factor of the length of study abroad and internships abroad and how the duration abroad affects the perceived impact of students on their skill development and overall evaluation of their experience.
