The benefits and challenges of international education: Maximizing learning for social change

This chapter examines several prominent rationales for funding international scholarships in light of a changing global higher education landscape. Drawing on existing studies of international scholarship programs and learning abroad research that illuminate individual-, institutional-, and societal-level outcomes, it affirms the potential of immersive international learning experiences to play a significant role in advancing social change. At the same time, it argues that existing research challenges some of the assumptions that have traditionally undergirded support for international scholarships-particularly for students from the Global South-and calls for re-envisioning the role of international universities and the design of scholarship programs to maximize their contributions to social change.