Multicultural Student Perspectives on a Study Abroad Course in Costa Rica

Enrollment in study abroad has increased substantially during the last few decades; however, minority participation in study abroad has not kept pace with this growth. To address this need, we delivered a synchronously taught undergraduate course on sustainable agriculture to students at Haskell Indian Nations University and at Purdue University for three semesters from 2010 to 2012. Following the preparatory course, students from both universities participated in a two-week field trip to Costa Rica. An online questionnaire with both Likert-style and open-ended questions was administered in 2013 to assess student perceptions of the course. Despite differences in backgrounds, the Haskell and and Purdue students did not differ in their positive assessment of the course.  Our experience suggests that study abroad programs can be developed and offered through partnerships between tribal colleges and universities and predominately white institutions that provide substantial benefits to students at both institutions.