While study abroad programs are increasing at unprecedented rates, one study shows some schools may not be providing quality experiences for their students because they don't provide on-site support staff.

The study examined 1,300 students in more than 60 study abroad programs and should be published in late 2007, said Michael Vande Berg, principal investigator of the study and vice president for academic affairs at the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE).

There are two central debates about how students learn best when they study abroad, Vande Berg said. One holds that by sending students abroad, they will come into contact with the "new and the different" and have valuable learning experiences. The other suggests that by giving students support when they study abroad, they will do significantly better in their intercultural learning, Vande Berg said.

The evidence of the study indicated that the latter belief was more accurate, he said.

"Students really do need to have various kinds of support when they're abroad," Vande Berg said. "One of the most important kinds of support that we looked at in the study is whether there is a resident director."

At Penn State, nearly 2,400 students study abroad each year, making it the fourth largest in the nation, Anthony Ogden, associate director of education abroad at Penn State, said.

The type of support a student at Penn State receives when abroad largely depends on what type of program he or she enters. If a student enters a CIEE, International Education of Students (IES) or Arcadia program, resident staff members are in place to support American students studying in that country. But, students who decide to directly enroll at a foreign university will have to rely on that university's staff for support, Ogden said.

"Every program has some level of on-site support ... that's why it's very important for students to choose the right program," Ogden said. "We try to help students to make as informed of a decision as possible, but ultimately it will be the student's decision."

Kristine Crassweller (senior-anthropology) studied at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, through Penn State's Education Abroad program last spring and said her experience was beneficial. She said resident advisers were ready to help whenever she had a question.

"The international office was very helpful -- they organized events and seminars that made it easier to meet people; they also were able to direct us on getting visas, jobs and, if necessary, get bank accounts," she said. "I don't think that I could have done as much as I did without that support system."

Stacy Lambe (senior-public relations) studied at the University of Wollongong in Australia through CIEE in the fall 2005 and said he was the only Penn State student at the university that semester. "At first I didn't think the on-site staff would have been necessary, but as the semester went on, they became helpful and close with all of the students in the group," Lambe said. "The staff were the ones that facilitated our group trips and helped us schedule. I think I would have been OK without them, but I also think I would have had a different experience."