Ensuring the Global Competency of U.S. College Graduates
Like the digital divide of a generation ago, today we face a growing "global" divide, between those who will have access to an international education and will be primed for success in our globalized world, and those who will not. The United States cannot remain globally competitive without a citizenry equipped with global skills and knowledge. Ensuring that many more American college students have access to study abroad as part of their academic preparation is vital to U.S. competitiveness and should be a national priority.
Study abroad is a learning opportunity that enables students to develop critical skills needed to compete in today's global economy, including foreign language fluency, strong problem-solving and analytical capability, a tolerance for ambiguity, and cross-cultural competence. Recent studies also show a positive correlation between students who study abroad and higher grade point averages and degree completion rates. Study abroad contributes in vital ways to preparing students for the competitive global environment into which they will graduate and should be the norm, not the exception, across U.S. higher education. Yet, only 10% of U.S. college students study abroad before they graduate. In a post-pandemic world, increasing access to study abroad will be critical to ensuring that students gain the skills, knowledge, and experiences necessary to maintain the leadership of the United States in tackling global challenges, like pandemics, and succeeding in a global economy.
The Simon Program
The Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Program Act of 2023 (S. 2261/H.R. 4588), introduced by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and U.S. Representatives Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.), seeks to expand access to study abroad for U.S. college students by enhancing the State Department's Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) program and formally renaming it as the "Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Program". Inspired by the vision of the late Sen. Paul Simon (D–Ill.) and the recommendations of the congressionally-appointed Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, the legislation would advance four national goals:
- One million U.S. college students will study abroad annually for credit
- Study abroad participants will more closely represent the demographics of the undergraduate population in terms of gender, ethnicity, students with disabilities, income level, and field of study
- A significantly greater proportion of study abroad will occur in nontraditional destinations outside Western Europe
- Higher education institutions will make study abroad a critical component of a quality higher education
U.S. higher education institutions could apply for federal grants, individually or in consortium, to help them institute programs that would move the country toward achievement of these objectives.
Representative Fitzpatrick press release
Policy Recommendation
- Issue Brief: Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Program Act