US alumni credit study abroad with career success

The survey of more than 8,000 alumni was conducted by the Forum on Education Abroad, which said the findings offered “even more evidence of education abroad’s significant value for career and economic success.”  

“As the survey shows, education abroad is a key accelerator for students to develop the skills US employers say they need to grow their business,” Forum president Melissa Torres told The PIE News. 

“We should be expanding access to study abroad and international internships so that every student leaves college ready for the global workforce,” she said.  

More than half of respondents said education abroad helped them get their first job after graduating, and the majority indicated their international study experience had a very or extremely important influence on their career path. 

The findings follow a previous study by the Forum that found US students who studied abroad on average earned 6% more in their first career after graduation than their counterparts who did not.  

The research drew on starting salary data for undergraduate business majors across the US and revealed a $4,159 average salary differential between the two groups of students. 

Meanwhile, US businesses are increasingly demanding that employees are equipped with international skills and expertise.  

In a survey of more than 1,200 US businesses last year, 96% of respondents said overall performance would increase either “some” or “a great deal” if employes had more international expertise, with the result becoming more dramatic as the firm size increased.  

What’s more, 84% of respondents said their company would place greater emphasis on international competence among employees over the next 10 years.  

It remains to be seen if state laws limiting programs for specific populations prevent students from accessing these experiences

Melissa Torres, The Forum on Education Abroad

Participation in study abroad among US students saw an increase of nearly 50% in 2022/23 as the sector continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic, though the total only represented one percent of all US college enrolments.  

Torres said she expected next month’s Open Doors report to show a further increase in outbound US students.  

This also rings true with a recent study from Terra Dotta in which 76% of students indicated they hoped or planned to study abroad in 2025, a modest increase on the previous year’s 73%. 

And yet, the study abroad community has been hit with major funding cuts by the Trump administration, which cancelled federal grants for 22 programs this year, totalling $100 million in funding that had already been approved by congress. 

Students who depend on these resources to go abroad are likely to be the hardest hit by these interruptions of “vital” federal funding, Torres told The PIE. 

“It remains to be seen whether geopolitical tensions impact students’ choice of destination or if state laws limiting programs for specific populations prevent students from accessing these experiences,” she continued.  

What’s more, though the diversity of study abroad participation has increased in recent years, minority students are still greatly underrepresented in study abroad, NAFSA has warned. 

For instance, while African American or Black students made up 12.5% of US postsecondary enrolments in 2022/23, they comprised just under 6% of study abroad participants. In comparison, Caucasian students made up 52% of institutional enrolments and 66% of study abroad.  

Initiatives such as the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Program Act aim to close this divide and widen access to study abroad, led by the belief that the US “cannot remain globally competitive without a citizenry equipped with global skills and knowledge”. 

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