As travel restrictions and other complicating factors of the COVID pandemic have eased, the number of students interested in international educational experiences has increased.
Marcus King, director of study abroad at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, told EdScoop that the transition from a paper-and-pencil system for study abroad to an all-digital one may also have played a role in the sharp increase his office has seen in students taking advantage of international education opportunities.
Last year, 182 A&M students completed study abroad trips – a university record. In 2017, the year before the university modernised its study abroad system, only 30 to 40 students participated in study abroad opportunities, King said.
“Year after year, we’ve worked our way up to really get a lot more students to benefit from these international study abroad experiences,” King said in an interview with EdScoop.
The university is not alone in seeing more students interested in study abroad opportunities. In fact, more than half of the institutions that responded to software company Terra Dotta’s State of Globalisation in Higher Education in 2023 survey said they had seen an increase in applications for study abroad opportunities since the COVID pandemic.
Before the university used the new software, students typically heard about study abroad opportunities by word of mouth and filled out physical applications by hand, then had to collect signatures from offices across campus. Now, students can browse all campuses and programmes, work on applications at their own pace, and explore financial aid options to help fund their study abroad experiences.
“I think this digital transformation to Terra Dotta has been really beneficial for students to be able to complete their applications from wherever they are,” said King.
Once students have completed the applications, they can upload passport and vaccination information and be connected to any international travel or health and safety training.
Terra Dotta also offers a risk management app that allows students and faculty to track users’ locations and itineraries, find health and safety updates based on the part of the world they are visiting, and access emergency communication channels.
King says he’s also seen the benefits of the change for administrators. He can now send information to students in batches, and said it’s also been useful for managing bursaries and collecting transfer credit forms.
“I think it definitely beats going through filing cabinets and searching for information,” King said. “It’s really easy to have this online software that we can access from anywhere … we’re still able to help students or faculty on campus.”
