Quality Improvement Program (QUIP) for Education Abroad
To further its strategic goal of developing and implementing standards to improve the quality of education abroad programs, the Forum on Education Abroad provides its institutional members with the opportunity to participate in its Quality Improvement Program (QUIP) for Education Abroad.
The goal of QUIP is to promote high standards of practice throughout the field of education abroad.
QUIP consists of a guided self-study and peer review process, resulting in a comprehensive report and recommendations in the areas of program design, evaluation and assessment, marketing and promotion, student advising, and resources and operations.
Unlike accreditation, QUIP supports an institution's own quality assurance initiatives and can be easily adapted to organizations with different philosophies and infrastructures.
QUIP is based on the Forum's Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad, which were developed in consultation with many colleges and universities and third party providers. Hundreds of education abroad professionals have contributed to the Standards.
Those institutions and organizations participating in QUIP will benefit from its rigorous, systematic, and objective self-study and peer review process to improve the quality of education abroad programs. This is an ideal program for Forum member organizations that are in the process of re-accreditation or simply seeking to evaluate and improve their operations.
To assess the value of QUIP, it is helpful to consider the per student cost for a review amortized over the 8 years for which a review is valid. For example, imagine that your organization's total price for QUIP is $5,000, including the costs associated with hosting peer reviewers. If your organization has 500 students a year participating in education abroad, the total number of students over 8 years, assuming steady enrollments, would be 4,000 students. This would make the per student cost of the QUIP review $1.25.
Apply for a QUIP review: QUIP Application
Institutions and Organizations Recognized for Meeting Standards of Good Practice
The Forum on Education Abroad’s Quality Improvement Program (QUIP) is the only review process for the education abroad field that is based on an objective set of standards that have been developed through the broad collaboration of the field at-large. Recognition by the Forum signifies that these institutions and organizations have participated in a voluntary quality improvement process involving a rigorous self-study and objective peer review. Trained peer reviewers examined self-study and supporting documents, and conducted site visits to determine whether the organization or institution meets the Forum’s Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad. Members of the Forum Review Panel, a group of seven senior education abroad colleagues, reviewed the self-study and peer review materials in order to make a final determination about whether or not the organization or institution meets the Standards.
The institutions and organizations listed below have successfully completed the Forum’s Quality Improvement Program (QUIP) and were found to be meeting the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad at the time they went through the QUIP review. The year of completion of the review is noted in parentheses. QUIP recognition is valid for eight years, after which organizations must go through a complete review again in order to maintain recognition. Organizations are required to furnish an interim report four years after a review in which they analyze the current state of their education abroad operations and how they are continuing to meet the Forum’s Standards.
QUIP Comprehensive Program Review
This QUIP review is intended for institutions and organizations that offer education abroad programs either exclusively for their own students, or for the wider U.S. undergraduate market. It involves a review of all facets of education abroad program operations and includes site visits to the main center or office as well as a representative program site.
| Institution/Organization | Year in which the QUIP Comprehensive Review was successfully completed |
| Foundation for International Education (FIE) | 2008 |
| Saint Norbert College | 2008 |
| University of Limerick | 2008 |
| Dickinson College | 2009 |
| ISA (International Studies Abroad) Granada Program | 2009 |
| The Center for Cross-Cultural Study (CC-CS) | 2009 |
| Freie Universitaet Berlin International Summer and Winter University (FUBiS) | 2010 |
| University of Cincinnati | 2010 |
| Freie Universitaet Berlin European Studies Program (FU-BEST ) | 2011 |
QUIP Review of Evaluation Processes
This type of review is intended for education abroad provider organizations and institutions with elaborate education abroad evaluation systems that use independent reviewers, and that use evaluation results to make program improvements. It involves a rigorous analysis of all facets of the evaluation system and includes site visits to the main center or office as well as a representative program site.
| Institution/Organization | Year in which QUIP Review of Evaluation Processes was successfully completed |
| IES Abroad | 2010 |
