Investigation Widening

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that "Colleges Can Expect Subpoenas in Study-Abroad Investigation."

Another Opinion

The Atlanta Journal Constitution weighs in with an editorial on higher education: "Enrich students, not college officials" by Maureen Downey, for the editorial board.

USA Today Airs Debate

USA Today printed two sides of the debate on study abroad:

• "Our opinion on study-abroad: Education or vacation?" - Problems with overseas programs threaten to undermine their value"
• "Opposing view: Expand overseas programs" - Provide more oversight, but don't cut ties between schools, providers" by Allan E. Goodman
  

Surveying the Field

The Chronicle of Higher Education published an article on "Many Study-Abroad Offices That Use Outside Providers Receive Financial Support From Them, Survey Suggests" by JJ Hermes. The Forum completed the first State of the Field Survey in 2006, and the committee plans to conduct a second survey in Fall 2007.

What questions would you like to see on this year's survey?

Continuing Coverage

The Forum continues to field calls from the Press, including USA Today. Today, we want to share an interesting article from the Greentree Gazette, "Beware the study-abroad witch hunt" by Jim Castagnera.

Weekend Wrapup

NPR's Legal Affairs, August 17: Lender Inquiry Turns to Study-Abroad Deals

InsideHigherEd.com, August 20: The Middlemen of Study Abroad

"Colleges have taken very different approaches to their relationships with these outside providers, says Brian Whalen, president and chief executive officer of the Forum on Education Abroad, a group of 250 colleges that has created standards of good practice for study abroad programs. Some that have made strong investments in study abroad have done so largely through working with provider organizations, while others have preferred to either establish a large number of their own programs or directly work with universities abroad. 'It's complex,' says Whalen, 'in terms of where a college or university should put its resources.'"

Investigation Expanding

Friday, August 17: The Chronicle of Higher Education is reporting "Cuomo Spokesman Says Attorney General's Office Finds Problems 'Under Every Rock We Turn Over,'" in and article by Matt Petrie, Elizabeth Quill, and Lauren Smith.

New Developments

On August 16, the New York Times reported that "Study Abroad Is New Focus of Inquiry Into Perks."

The Chronicle of Higher Education provided its own coverage: "Study-Abroad Providers Are New Target of Investigation by New York State Attorney General."

Another Perspective

The Chronicle of Higher Education also summarized responses to the scrutiny of study abroad practices in "Colleges Defend the Costs of Study-Abroad Programs" by Elizabeth F. Farrell.

The Chronicle Weighs In

In the first of two articles - "As Interest in Studying Abroad Grows, Colleges Struggle With Cost, Quality, and Oversight" by Elizabeth F. Farrell - The Chronicle of Higher Education offers a different perspective on issues in study abroad and cites the Forum's work on Standards.

Emerging Benchmarks

In response to concerns about the difficulties of evaluating and monitoring study-abroad programs, professionals in the field formed an independent organization, the Forum on Education Abroad, to act as an arbiter of standards.

Since it was founded six years ago, the Forum has focused on identifying reputable programs. Using surveys and research, the group devised a set of standards for judging programs, and it just completed a pilot project reviewing the foreign-study offerings of 19 institutions. One of the first things peer reviewers discovered was that many colleges lacked clear goals and rationales for their stated commitment to provide overseas study. Furthermore, aside from anecdotes, the industry has little proof that its programs are accomplishing the lofty goals of global understanding, language proficiency, and good will.

"We tend to think of study abroad as a silver bullet - that it's going to make students more academically engaged, better citizens, and help our country in globalization," says Brian Whalen, the Forum's president and chief executive. "And in some ways, it's very powerful. But we lack precision to our programs, let alone a way to measure what we're accomplishing."

In July the Forum released a 14-page list of standards for study-abroad programs. It is a start, according to Mr. Whalen. But those guidelines lack any information on how an institution can evaluate programs run by outsiders. Though the forum plans to create standards for that soon, the time-intensive process of evaluating other providers will still most likely be done on a case-by-base basis, and will not get much easier.

Response from the Field

InsideHigherEd.com has published an article, entitled "Study Abroad Under Scrutiny" by Elizabeth Redden, that summarized responses to yesterday's New York Times article. It quoted Forum president and CEO Brian Whalen:

"When asked about the article Monday, many in international education strongly defended (in industry parlance) "familiarization trips" - international travel intended to enable college officials to evaluate a program where students earn credit abroad - as necessary to ensuring quality. "We're in a field that depends on those familiarization tours as long as they're seen and they're done in an ethical way that's benefiting the students and that's fully transparent and no one is benefiting in a way that is separate from making sure the students are participating and learning from the best possible programs," said Brian Whalen, president and chief executive officer of the Forum on Education Abroad, a group of 250 colleges that has created standards of good practice for study abroad programs....There's a "larger issue," said Whalen of the Forum for Education Abroad, "about colleges and universities needing to take stock of how much study abroad needs to be invested in."

Advocating for Forum Members

The Standards Committee, led by Michael Steinberg, have already considered refining the issues of marketing practices, transparency, and ethics in forthcoming third edition of the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad. As a response to yesterday's New York Times article, the Committee has scheduled a meeting in the fall to continue that work.

In the short term, the Forum will be developing and distributing talking points for members to use with campus leadership and the media.

Growing Media Response

As the media respond to the New York Times article, Forum president and CEO Brian Whalen continues to advocate on behalf of Forum members. He has given full interviews to The Chronicle of Higher Education and InsideHigherEd.com.

He has also sent a letter to the editor of the New York Times:

Re: "In Study Abroad, Gifts and Money for Universities" - August 13, 2007

While the article fails to accurately describe the academic nature of education abroad and the essential role that providers play in insuring quality programming, it raises issues central to the Forum on Education Abroad's mission. A global organization of nearly 300 institutional members, we represent approximately 70 percent of the U.S. students abroad.

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission recognized the Forum as the Standards Development Organization for the field of education abroad. Developed by hundreds of professionals from around the world, the Forum's Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad offer an excellent roadmap for developing and managing programs focused on serving students.

The Forum encourages study abroad organizations and institutions to review their policies and practices in light of these Standards, and now it offers the Quality Improvement Program, a voluntary process of rigorous self-study and peer review, to independently assess program improvement.

Sincerely,

Brian Whalen, Ph.D.
President and CEO
The Forum on Education Abroad

Talk Back to the NY Times

The New York Times an article today, entitled "In Study Abroad, Gifts and Money for Universities," raising questions about marketing practices in the field of study abroad.

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