The Immediate Gains and Enduring Impact of International Education

By Craig Kench, Chief Partnerships & Development Officer, AES

I’ve spent my career straddling the UK and US. First as a student-athlete, later as a professional footballer, (soccer for my American friends!) then in local UK government, and for the last couple of decades- in the wonderful (most of the time!!) world of international education. Across those vantage points, one pattern never changes: graduates who’ve lived and learned abroad bring a sharper toolkit to work, and employers notice. However, we need to do a better job of articulating our stories to showcase the benefits to ensure employers notice.

This year’s new report from The Forum on Education Abroad gives the field one of its clearest data points yet. Analysing 7,487 undergraduate business majors across four large US public universities, The Forum found that students who studied abroad earned $4,159 more in starting salary than peers who didn’t, a 6.3% differential. That edge held across GPA bands, not just for straight-A students, and “time to first job” was essentially the same (79 vs. 81 days). In short, the ROI shows up right away, without slowing graduates down.

Why does that salary lift happen?

When we engage effectively with employers, they keep telling us what they value, and it maps almost perfectly to what high-quality international experiences develop. The National Association of Colleges and Employers highlights communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem-solving as top career-readiness competencies.

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2025 report underscores the same human skills alongside adaptability, precisely the muscles students build when navigating new cultural, political and social landscapes within study abroad.

Transferable skills that accelerate career progression

From a hiring manager’s perspective, and when our graduates are equipped to articulate their experiences affectively, international experience is code for “this person can handle ambiguity and still deliver.” Students returning from study abroad routinely demonstrate:

· Intercultural communication: negotiating meaning across languages and norms.

· Resilience and adaptability: recovering from mistakes, rerouting when plans change.

· Problem-solving under constraint: getting things done without perfect information.

· Teamwork across difference: collaborating with peers who see the world differently.

Those are not “nice-to-haves.” They’re differentiators in hiring and salary negotiations. The Forum’s finding that the salary premium appears for B and C students too is telling; it suggests the experience itself, not just pre-existing excellence, is producing labour-market signals employers will pay for.

Short-term salary bumps are encouraging, but what about five or ten years out? Longitudinal evidence from Europe’s Erasmus Impact Study found that former mobile students are half as likely to experience long-term unemployment, and even five years after graduation their unemployment rate is 23% lower than non-mobile peers. Employers also report a preference for graduates with international experience when hiring for roles with leadership potential. For many years I have been seeing graduates displaying expectations around promotions within a year at an organisation, I have witnessed the desire for instant gratification. The Forums report along with other data sets, is a wonderful addition to my narrative around having patience, but if you want the best chance for career acceleration- live, learn and intern abroad!

On the US side, the Institute of International Education’s Gaining an Employment Edge report connects study abroad to promotion and long-term career progression, capturing how international experiences unlock unexpected sectors and role pathways over time. Alumni describe the way global experiences expand networks, professional vocabulary, and the courage to stretch for bigger jobs. The true test of this is through the hundreds of study abroad alumni I remain in contact with and the countless times they reach out several years after their programs and share how their international experience has just opened up a new job opportunity. It also reminds me of why I love this field of work.

Put these strands together and a picture emerges: early salary advantages compound. Raises, bonuses, equity refreshers, and new-offer negotiations often use current base pay as a starting point. A $4,000+ head start today can translate into hundreds of thousands, if not more, over a career, especially when paired with the faster access to responsibility and leadership roles that many study abroad graduates report.

What can we do next?

If we want more students to unlock these outcomes, we have to make the path simpler, fairer, and clearer:

1. Expand access with precision: Target scholarships and advising to students who are historically underrepresented in mobility. The ROI case is strongest when it changes a student’s life trajectory, not when it marginally improves an already advantaged one.

2. Embed career readiness from day one: Align program outcomes with frameworks like the NACE competencies and then assess them. Require students to practice articulating evidence (stories, metrics, building of portfolios) for skills like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving in mock interviews and CV statements.

3. Make reflection practical and portable: Replace generic journals with deliverables students can hand to recruiters: STAR stories, global teamwork case notes, and a 90-second “value of my global experience” pitch tailored to specific roles, Ensure they use LinkedIn as a form of self-branding and educate them that self-reflection is not an inherent skill, its something that developed over time. Keep developing it!

4. Leverage international experiential learning wisely: Whether it’s an Internship, an industry consulting project, research, or any of the many other models available, doing this abroad blend technical skill-building with intercultural agility- gold in employer eyes.

5. Close the loop with employers: Bring hiring managers into classrooms (virtual or in-person) to review student deliverables against live job descriptions. When recruiters validate the relevance of intercultural evidence, student confidence, and outcomes, rise.

A note on equity and narrative

We must be careful not to turn study abroad into a purity test for employability. Not every student can travel, and not every global learning outcome requires a plane ticket. Virtual exchanges, globally networked projects, and community-based learning with also build intercultural competence. But when mobility is possible, the evidence is clear- it raises the floor and the ceiling.

The story we tell matters. For too long, study abroad has been framed as enrichment, nice, broadening, a life experience. That’s all true. But it is also work-relevant skill formation that employers recognize and reward.

As someone who has seen football pitches, council chambers, and boardrooms up close, I can tell you, careers bend toward people who can read the field and make the smart pass under pressure. Study abroad teaches that beautifully. Let’s make sure more students get the chance to play.

Sources:

The Forum on Education Abroad, International Experience as a Career Asset (2025)

NACE Career Readiness Competencies (2024)

World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs 2025

European Commission, Erasmus Impact Study (2014)

IIE, Gaining an Employment Edge (2017).