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The Forum’s Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad recognize that there are no “one size fits all” answers for how organizations and programs should address a broad range of study abroad standards. Students come from a variety of backgrounds, and have broad disciplinary interests. The Standards do not assume that all study abroad programs should aspire to the same educational goals, and accept that each has legitimately varying goals.
The ultimate goal of the Standards is to improve practices in education abroad, so that our students’ international educational experiences are as rich and meaningful as possible.
The Standards are designed to fit a wide range of academic programs including direct enrollment programs, hybrid programs, island programs and field research programs. They are applicable to semester- and year-long programs, summer programs, short-term programs, programs organized by US universities and institutions, international universities and study abroad providers.
The Standards are anchored in a set of queries, rather than prescriptive statements. The queries provide the basis for self-evaluation by individual professionals, their programs and their institutions, for internal or external review. The query basis allows programs to be evaluated by their adherence to the Standards, and most significantly, in relation to institutional missions.
Download a PDF of The Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad (2008)
Financial support for the development and testing of the Standards has been provided by a generous grant from the IFSA Foundation.
Responding to the increasing number of short-term study abroad programs and the Forum membership's call for guidance in applying the Standards of Good Practice to these types of programs, the Standards Committee has drafted Standards of Good Practice for Short Term Education Abroad Programs. This draft is now available in the Standards Toolbox for member review.
The Forum Standards Committee has drafted
Standards of Good Practice for Short-Term Education Abroad Programs, which are now available for public comment.
These Standards are drawn from the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad and are complemented by additional Standards more relevant to short-term programs than to longer programs.
It is important to note that these Standards are meant for short-term programs when/where the short-term programs are situated within an institutional or organizational structure which is responsible for the larger administrative concerns of the program. Short-term programs operated independently of a broader institutional or organizational structure should be guided by the Forum's Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad .
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The Standards of Good Practice for Short-Term Education Abroad Programs are meant to be a guide for programs that are organized and/or led by college faculty. Those organizing these programs will not need to wade through the larger document which deals with a broader range of issues, where those concerns are appropriately administered by an institution or organization.
The committee's aim is to have one document that can be specifically applied to short
term programs particularly. When completed, they will provide specific guidelines for short-term education abroad programming, particularly programs that are organized and/or led by home campus faculty.
The Standards Committee welcomes comment on the draft. Comments should be sent to info@forumea.org .
To access the draft: DRAFT Standards of Good Practice for Short-Term Education Abroad Programs
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