Canada Learning Initiative in China (CLIC): A Consortium Approach to Increasing Students’ Participation in Education Abroad to China

Education abroad experiences have been found to be beneficial to students’ personal growth, intercultural awareness, and career preparedness. However, the rate of Canadian postsecondary students’ participation in education abroad has been low, particularly to Asia. Lack of financial resources and uncertainty in credit transfer are identified as common challenges that stop students from pursuing such opportunities. In this paper, the Canada Learning Initiative in China (CLIC), a Canadian consortium of 12 top Canadian research-intensive universities, is introduced as a model to increase students’ participation in study abroad in China. After an introduction to the design of the program in response to students’ expressed challenges, a thematic analysis is conducted on students’ self-reported learning experiences to glean the impact of such an initiative on students. This study shows that consortia can be utilized as an effective approach to increasing the scope and quality of students’ participation in education abroad.