Rather than acting as a distraction or undermining educational outcomes, study abroad experiences result in improved academic performance, InsideHigherEd.com reports in an analysis of the results of a ten-year University System of Georgia study. GLOSSARI – the Georgia Learning Outcomes of Students Studying Abroad Research Initiative – found that “students who study abroad have improved academic performance upon returning to their home campus, higher graduation rates, and improved knowledge of cultural practices and context compared to students in control groups.”

The specific finding in the GLOSSARI study include:

• Students who studied abroad had a higher four-year graduation rate than those who did not;
• Students who studied abroad had a higher mean GPA in the years of study following their abroad experience than prior to it;
• “Researchers found a particularly pronounced effect of study abroad on academic performance among students who entered college with the lowest SAT scores;”
• Students who studied abroad grew in their “knowledge of cultural context – for example, in their knowledge of how different cultural settings affect one’s own reactions and interactions with others – relative to non-study abroad students.”

 UPDATE: This story was also picked up by, and run in, USAToday.