You’ve heard it a hundred times: “Study abroad will transform your career.” But when you’re staring down a tuition bill, a competitive job market, and a résumé that needs to stand out — that starts to sound like a sales pitch.
So let’s skip the inspirational language and go straight to the data.
Because the research has never been stronger, and the numbers tell a story that should matter to every college student who’s on the fence about going global.
The Short Answer: Yes. Meaningfully So.
A landmark 2025 study conducted by the Forum on Education Abroad and Lightcast — the global labor market analytics firm — analyzed millions of U.S. job postings and professional profiles to measure the real-world career impact of studying abroad.
Here’s what they found:
- Study abroad alumni contribute $1.8 billion in added income to the U.S. economy, supporting over 17,000 jobs
- Business school graduates who studied abroad earned $4,100+ more in their first job than peers who didn’t — regardless of GPA
- 90% of study abroad alumni say the experience was an important asset for career success
- Nearly 1 in 4 alumni say studying abroad directly helped them land their first job
These aren’t feel-good statistics. They’re labor market outcomes — the kind employers and universities use to make real decisions.
What Employers Are Actually Looking For
Here’s the disconnect that most students don’t see until it’s too late: employers are describing a skills crisis, and study abroad is one of the few reliable solutions.
According to NAFSA’s workforce research, 96% of U.S. businesses say performance would improve with greater international experience among their employees. Yet only about 10% of college students study abroad before graduation — meaning 90% of graduates enter the workforce without the global fluency companies are actively hiring for.
That gap is your advantage.
When a hiring manager sees international experience on your résumé, they’re reading it as shorthand for: adaptability, cross-cultural communication, self-reliance, and the courage to step into the unfamiliar. Those aren’t soft skills anymore. The World Economic Forum and the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) both rank them among the most critical competencies for the workforce through 2025 and beyond.
73% of employers say study abroad experience is important when evaluating résumés for junior-level positions. One Director of Talent Acquisition put it plainly: “Simply having this new perspective of the world will help you as a new graduate be marketable and stand out among the competition.”
The Skills Gap Is Real — And Study Abroad Closes It
When researchers surveyed over 8,000 study abroad alumni for the Forum on Education Abroad’s Global Learning for a Competitive Workforce report, the findings were consistent: international education builds exactly what employers say is in short supply right now.
What skills? Adaptability. Creative problem-solving. Leadership. Communication across difference.
These are also, not coincidentally, the top competencies identified by the World Economic Forum for the modern workforce.
More than 50% of study abroad alumni say the experience broadened their career goals — not just sharpened existing ones. Alumni consistently report that their time abroad influenced the jobs they pursued, the industries they entered, and how they advanced once they got there.
One alumni said it best: “Studying abroad made me more competitive in a crowded job market, guided me toward doing work that I genuinely enjoy, and drastically improved my leadership and problem-solving skills.”
Why Company Visits Change Everything
Here’s where GLO programs do something most study abroad experiences don’t.
Traditional study abroad puts you in a classroom in another country. That’s valuable. But GLO programs go further — integrating real company visits into the academic experience, so students don’t just learn about global business. They sit inside it.
Imagine visiting a manufacturing headquarters in Germany and seeing their supply chain operations firsthand. Walking into a luxury goods atelier in Italy and understanding how craftsmanship becomes brand strategy. Meeting executives in Japan who explain — directly, in context — why silence in a negotiation means something entirely different than it does in New York.
These moments aren’t simulations. They’re the actual professional exposure that employers can’t teach in onboarding and schools can’t recreate in case studies.
When students return and describe these experiences in interviews, they’re not reciting bullet points from a textbook. They’re drawing on first-person knowledge of how business actually works across cultures. That’s the difference between a candidate who knows about global markets and one who has been inside them.
And hiring managers notice.
It Shows Up on Your LinkedIn, Too
Here’s a trend worth paying attention to: compared to graduates from the 1990s, four times as many graduates from the 2010s now highlight study abroad experience on their professional profiles — during the same period when college completion only increased by one-fold.
That acceleration isn’t happening by accident. It’s happening because it works. NAFSA’s labor market research found that professional profiles listing study abroad skills included a disproportionately high number of people in president and CEO roles compared to profiles without them.
The signal is compounding over time. The students who go abroad, talk about it strategically, and connect the dots between their experience and their skills — they’re pulling ahead.
What About Short-Term Programs?
One of the most common questions we hear: “Does it count if I only go for a few weeks?”
The research says yes — with the right structure.
Studies on short-term learning abroad programs show that programs of at least six weeks can produce strong academic, personal, career, and intercultural development outcomes. The key variable isn’t duration alone — it’s depth of engagement.
GLO’s programs are built around intensity: every day combines company visits, cultural immersion, academic coursework, and guided faculty-led reflection. That compression produces competency development faster than a semester of passive classroom experience.
Students don’t come back with a tan. They come back with a framework for understanding how business works across borders — and the ability to articulate it.
The Real Question Isn’t Whether It’s Worth It
The data answers that. Study abroad is worth it — financially, professionally, and personally.
The real question is: what kind of study abroad experience will actually move the needle for your career?
Not all programs are equal. The ones that produce career outcomes are the ones that go beyond tourism and passive observation — programs that put students inside boardrooms, alongside faculty who know the industry, in destinations where the curriculum connects directly to what global business actually looks like on the ground.
That’s what GLO has been building since 1977. Across 650+ seminars and 33,000+ alumni, we’ve seen what happens when students stop learning about the world and start experiencing it.
The employers see it too.
Frequently Asked Questions About Study Abroad and Your Career
Does study abroad actually help you get a job? Yes — and the data backs it up. A 2025 study by the Forum on Education Abroad and Lightcast found that business school graduates who studied abroad earned over $4,100 more in their first job than peers who didn’t. Nearly 1 in 4 alumni say studying abroad directly helped them land their first position, and 90% call it an important career asset overall.
What skills do employers look for that study abroad develops? Adaptability, cross-cultural communication, creative problem-solving, and leadership top the list — and those are exactly what the World Economic Forum and NACE identify as the most in-demand workforce skills right now. Study abroad is one of the few experiences that builds all four simultaneously, in a real-world environment.
Do short-term programs count for career benefits? Yes. Research shows that programs of at least six weeks with structured, immersive experiences — including company visits, faculty-led learning, and cultural engagement — produce career outcomes comparable to longer programs. Depth matters more than duration.
How much more do study abroad alumni earn? Business school alumni who studied abroad earned an average of $4,100 more in their first job. At the three-year career mark, the earnings premium continues — study abroad alumni consistently out-earn peers who didn’t go abroad.
Why do employers notice study abroad on a résumé? Because it signals things a GPA can’t: that you can function in unfamiliar environments, navigate cultural complexity, and take initiative without a safety net. 73% of employers say study abroad experience is important when evaluating candidates for junior-level roles.
What makes GLO programs different for career preparation? GLO integrates real company visits into every program — so students aren’t just learning about global business, they’re inside it. Sitting in on operations meetings in Germany, visiting design studios in Italy, meeting executives in Japan. That firsthand exposure is what turns a résumé line into a story you can tell in any interview.
Ready to take the next step? Explore GLO’s upcoming programs and see where your education — and your career — could take you.
Faculty at partner universities: GLO works directly with universities to design and co-lead programs that count toward students’ degrees. If you’re interested in bringing a global learning experience to your students, we’d love to connect.
