The Asia Institute, a provider for education abroad programs in Asia, has published interesting data in its annual report on programs in Asia over the past several years. AI surveys several hundred faculty across US institutions to discover what s new, what s changed or changing, and what trends are in the works.
This year s report confirms what Seminars International is also seeing although our data is based on our 100+ programs per year.
- faculty-led programs are getting shorter, with programs of fewer than two weeks increasing. Much dismay occurred in the education abroad world when short-term (which IIE defines as shorter than 8 weeks) overtook semester programs in number. We have all become accustomed to that reality, but it is worth reflecting on the value of taking students abroad for only one week or 10 days.
- education abroad processes are becoming more centralized in an education abroad office, rather than being carried out by individual faculty. For a provider, this has many benefits, as education abroad staff have their eyes on the big picture of faculty-led programs rather than one program at a time. However, it can also distance the faculty from providers, rendering decision-making about program elements complicated.
- AI notes that scholarships or university funding for faculty-led programs has risen. It s gratifying to learn that universities are putting more resources towards making education abroad more affordable for students.
There is much more interesting data in the Asia Institute annual report. You can read the full Asia Institute report here.