ERIC Number: EJ1465749
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Apr
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0091-5521
EISSN: EISSN-1940-2325
Available Date: 0000-00-00
International Education for Low-Income Students: Virtual Exchange and the Academic Success among Pell-Recipient Community College Students
Melissa Whatley1; Kristin Labs2; Dawn R. Wood3
Community College Review, v53 n2 p262-280 2025
Objective/Research Question: This study explores the potential for virtual international exchange to serve as a high impact practice that improves academic outcomes, defined credential completion, and GPA among low-income students enrolled at two community colleges in the U.S. Southeast. Specifically, we ask: What is the relationship between participation in virtual international exchange and two key indicators of students' academic success, last-recorded cumulative GPA and credential completion, among community college students who receive Pell funding compared to those who do not? We adopt a capability approach to frame our work, which focuses attention on what low-income students are able to achieve when provided with opportunity rather than a lack of social status or financial means. Methods: Drawing data from 26,748 students, we use propensity score weighting to account for observed differences in virtual exchange participants and non-participants prior to estimating a series of linear regression models predicting a student's credential completion and last-recorded GPA. Results: Our findings suggest that virtual exchange participation has a positive relationship with both measures of students' academic success, credential completion and GPA. Conclusions/Contributions: Our results highlight the success that students are capable of when provided with the opportunity to engage with a high impact practice on their home campuses and have implications for both community college international educators and administrators.
Descriptors: International Education, Low Income Students, Community College Students, Grants, Federal Aid, International Educational Exchange, Electronic Learning, Educational Indicators, Academic Achievement, Grade Point Average, Credentials, Social Status
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Pell Grant Program
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA; 2SIT Graduate Institute, Brattleboro, VT, USA; 3Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA, USA