Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad (5th ed., 2015)
Updates on the 6th Edition
The Forum on Education Abroad is recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission as the Standards Development Organization (SDO) for the field of education abroad. As such, it is The Forum’s responsibility to monitor changes in our field of professional practice and maintain, update, and promulgate the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad according to the needs of our field.
The Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad support the complex responsibilities inherent in offering education abroad opportunities to students. They act as a means to develop, manage, assess and improve education abroad programming. As a commonly-developed and accepted set of standards, they provide a framework for accountability.
Each Standard is structured by:
- Statements: the broad principles of the Standard, detailed in bullet points. These define the aspirational best practices that should be applicable to any entity operating within the field of education abroad, according to their type of education abroad activity.
- a set of Queries following the Statement: prompts for evaluation, designed to elicit a response that demonstrates how the Standard is being met and encourages discussion rather than a yes or no response.
Supporting each Standard are:
- Fundamental elements: a dynamic feature defining essential expectations of implementing the Standards;
- Member Resources: a resource featuring best practices, keyed to the Standards. These examples are vetted by The Forum’s Standards Committee, and are made available exclusively to Forum members,
- Standards Guidelines: guidance that contextualizes various specific areas of education abroad practices, particularly where these practices may differ from the same practice in the home campus context.
Know the Standards
Standard 2: Student Learning and Development
Standard 3: Academic Framework
Standard 4: Student Selection, Preparation, and Advising
Standard 5: Student Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Measure
Standard 6: Policies and Procedures
Standard 7: Organizational and Program Resources
Standard 8: Health, Safety, Security, and Risk Management
» Download a PDF of the Standards of Good Practice
» Submit a resource to the Standards Toolbox
Notification of Standards Development
Beginning October 11, 2018, notice is hereby given that The Forum on Education Abroad has convened a Standards Update Working Group with the intent of revising the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad in preparation for a 6th edition.
Standards Development Updates
Our process for developing and updating standards prioritizes the core principles of due process for standards development as identified by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI): Openness, Lack of Dominance, Balance, Coordination and Harmonization, Consideration of View and Objections, Consensus Vote and Appeals. Persons directly or materially affected by the Standards have the opportunity to have their voices heard in this important process.