The Impact of Education Abroad Participation on College Student Success Among First-Generation Students

ABSTRACT

This study utilized the large-scale, multi-institutional CASSIE dataset to examine the impact of education abroad participation on academic outcomes for first-generation college students. Using robust multivariate matching methodology that effectively minimized self-selection bias, results showed the magnitude of benefit offered by studying abroad was greater for first-generation students than for continuing-generation students. Even after matching on a variety of background and prior achievement variables, first-generation students who studied abroad had higher 4- and 6-year graduation rates, had higher cumulative GPA scores, and took less time to graduate—relative to first-generation students who did not study abroad. These findings suggest that education abroad programming can be leveraged as a high-impact educational practice to promote college completion rates among first-generation students.

KEYWORDS:

• Education abroad
• first-generation college student
• graduation rates
• high-impact practice
• student success

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the Consortium for Analysis of Student Success through International Education (CASSIE). Data are available from [email protected] upon reasonable request.