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McClellan, I. (2021). The Impact of Study Abroad Participation on Graduation Rates in College. Retrieved from https://purl.lib.fsu.edu/diginole/2021_Summer_McClellan_fsu_0071E_16612
College dropout crisis has become one the major problems in U.S. Higher Education. Over the past decade, universities nation-wide have been trying to better understand the specific factors that influence undergraduate degree completion and have initiated multiple educational practices to increase the quality and quantity of students they graduate. In 2008, the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) defined ten "high-impact practices" (HIPs) as particularly effective at cultivating student learning and preparing them for future careers (Kuh, 2008). Study Abroad has been identified as one of the High Impact Practices. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between participation in Study Abroad as a High Impact Practice and student success at Belle State University, a medium-sized comprehensive university located in rural part of the Southeast region of the United States. More specifically, the study explored the relationship between study abroad participation, degree-completion, and time-to-degree and whether this relationship differed by the college of academic major and the types of study abroad programs. Results indicated that study abroad participation does not undermine educational outcomes, it does not undermine final semester GPA, and it does not delay graduation. Moreover, results indicated that study abroad participation at BSU contributed to degree completion for all groups of students regardless of their majors, that study abroad participants graduated at higher rates and had higher graduation GPA than non-participants. In addition, the study revealed that the stronger the institutional commitment to education abroad is, the higher the student participation in the high impact practice is, which in turn has been shown to lead to improved retention and graduation for all students.
education abroad, graduation rates, high impact practice, international education, persistence, study abroad
Date of Defense
June 29, 2021.
Submitted Note
A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education.
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references.
Advisory Committee
Toby J. Park-Gaghan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Elizabeth Jakubowski, University Representative; Patrice Iatarola, Committee Member; Robert Schwartz, Committee Member.
Publisher
Florida State University
Identifier
2021_Summer_McClellan_fsu_0071E_16612
McClellan, I. (2021). The Impact of Study Abroad Participation on Graduation Rates in College. Retrieved from https://purl.lib.fsu.edu/diginole/2021_Summer_McClellan_fsu_0071E_16612