After two years of interrupted travel, Elon University’s study abroad program saw an increase in participation in 2021-22, according to the Elon Experiences annual report. This year, 1,307 students studied abroad in comparison to the 91 students in the 2020-2021 academic year.
The annual report examines student participation in the five Elon Experiences: global engagement, internships, service, leadership and research. Each Elon student is required to complete a minimum of two of these experiences to fulfill the Experiential Learning Requirement for graduation.
This year’s report outlines the engagement throughout the 2021-22 academic year and from the class of 2022.
In the 2021-22 academic year, 1,307 Elon students studied abroad in 36 different countries including Peru, Israel, and South Korea. This is a significant increase from the 2020-2021 academic year, where 91 students went to 13 different countries.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 44% of Elon’s class of 2022 studied abroad during their four years at the university, a 29% decrease from the class of 2021. The class of 2020 had 80% of students study abroad.
The global engagement experience includes Study USA which also saw an increase in participation for 2021-22, with 323 students who pursued opportunities domestically, compared to the four students from 2020-21.
Despite the popularity of study abroad programs, the majority of Elon students complete internships as one of their ELRs. Elon is currently tied with Agnes Scott College in Georgia and Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, as the No. 3 school for study abroad. According to the report, 82% of the class of 2022 completed an internship for credit.
Over 2021-22 Elon had 2,228 students volunteer for various service opportunities. Students completed 65,408 service hours with 30,906 hours of academic service learning, according to the report. In the class of 2022, 81% of students volunteered to fulfill the service ELR.
According to this year’s report, there have been eight new organizations on campus, with a total of 254. Within these organizations, 1,717 students are in leadership positions. During their time at Elon, 59% of the class of 2022 had at least one leadership role in an on-campus organization.
Students are also able to pursue undergraduate research for the ELR. For the class of 2022, this was the least explored Elon Experience, with only 23% engagement. In 2021-22, 529 students participated in research opportunities through an academic department with 45 students engaging in a summer undergraduate research experience.