Parent Resources

Studying abroad is an enriching experience that improves students' professional, academic, and personal lives. Study abroad research shows that study abroad alumni:

• Are 2x more likely to be employed after graduation.
• Gain entrance into their top choice grad schools at a rate of 90%.
• Earn 25% higher salaries.
• Attain higher GPAs in subsequent semesters.
• Report increased levels of self-confidence.

Arrange how you will communicate and how frequently with your student (phone, email, text etc.)

• Know the time difference between the US and your student's destination, and learn about the intricacies of international dialing codes.
• Keep in mind that if you haven't heard from your student, he or she may be on a program-related excursion or traveling.
• Contact the Pepperdine Department of Public Safety at (310) 506-4441 in the event of an emergency and you are not able to contact your student.
• Encourage your student to maintain regular contact with Pepperdine regarding academics and administrative issues abroad.
• Before making plans to visit your student abroad, discuss with your student first and keep the following in mind: important program dates, visa restrictions, as well local program field trips (which may be planned by our program staff abroad).
• Help your student think about what he or she wants to get out of the study abroad experience, as well as some of the challenges he or she might face.

At some point while your student is studying abroad, you may want or need to contact your student's study abroad site. Contact information for each of Pepperdine's global sites is available on their respective webpages. However, please keep in mind that due to several Federal laws, such as FERPA and HIPAA, there may be limited or no information that your student's study abroad site will be able to share with you pertaining to your student's housing, academics, and health. We encourage parents to discuss these topics with their students directly and contact the study away site in the instance that a parent needs to report something significant to our international programs staff.

Please refer to our health and safety page for further information.

• Keep a copy of your student's airline itinerary, passport, I-20 and visa (if applicable), and credit card(s).
• Your student has been asked to create an emergency envelope which contains copies of the above items as well as other documents.

• Talk with your student about budgeting funds before departure.
• Familiarize yourself with the exchange rate and cost differential of the country in which your student will be living.
• Consider establishing a power-of-attorney or other legal agreement in order to take care of financial arrangements at home while he or she is abroad.
• For more information regarding finances, please refer to the study abroad finances page. 

While we encourage you to be in contact with your student, please be aware that living abroad has its ups and downs. After leaving home, your student will be transitioning through a range of emotions that are similar to those he or she experienced when arriving at Pepperdine as a new student. It is important for parents to understand what their student is going through and to be patient and supportive as he or she adjusts to the new culture. Adjustment is not accomplished in just a few days; it is an ongoing process. It is exactly these challenges that constitute a rewarding and memorable study abroad experience.

Familiarize yourself with your student's host country so you can support your student with the transition to life abroad as well as returning home. Listen and ask questions; your student will want to talk a lot about their abroad experience.

Pepperdine does regulate student travel on weekends and travel breaks. Pepperdine does not allow students, faculty, or staff to travel to level 3 or 4 countries or level 2 countries with level 3 or 4 regions on the U.S. Department of State Travel Warning List without going through an exemption process. Outside of this restriction, Pepperdine will not control student personal travel schedules. Talk with your student about and come to an agreement on an agreeable budget and travel locations. Pepperdine does conduct travel safety orientations in Malibu and abroad and employs a travel tracking system in order to get in touch with students in the event of a critical incident.

If you plan to visit your student while they're studying abroad please keep in mind that Pepperdine staff and security personnel may not be permitted to confirm your student's whereabouts or whether or not they even live in Pepperdine housing due to FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). With that in mind, please notify your student ahead of time if you plan to visit them and when you have arrived to meet them so they can receive you. Although you are the student's family member, you will still be required to abide by any pertinent guest policies at your student's study abroad site.

On-Campus Support

At Pepperdine, we believe that your student's study abroad experience does not end when he or she returns to the Malibu campus. Therefore, we have developed a re-entry program for students when they return from fall and spring study abroad experiences that focuses on identity development and connects students with resources to build on their study abroad experiences. For students who return for their spring semester, they are welcomed to join the Landed chapel series. For students who return for their fall semester, they are invited to attend the Landed Reception on campus. Please encourage your student to get involved with re-entry programs to help them with their transition back to campus.

Off-Campus Support

We have also offered some additional information here to help your student better adjust once they return home from their time abroad:

• Understand that ‘reverse culture shock’ is a real possibility and to recognize its symptoms so you can offer appropriate support to the returnees.
• Realize that returning home is not a predictable process and can be more stressful than the returnees or you anticipate. Be prepared to offer support long-distance as they anticipate coming home and especially after their return.
• Understand that most returnees are, in some ways, different than they were before they left home. They may initially seem to be “strangers”. It is hard to know what they experiences have meant to them and how they have changed. It may be necessary to “renegotiate” your relationship with returnees but your history together will provide a basis for this process.
• Be aware of your own expectations of the returnee. You may wish that they would just ‘fit back in’ but it is more helpful if you avoid forcing the returnee into old roles and relationships. Allow them space and time to readjust and reconnect.
• Be conscious of all those things that have changed at home. Help returnees to understand what has taken place both in the society and among friends and family. Even if they have heard about these events, the impact at home may have not been obvious. You have much to tell them and they can tell you how events at home look from their overseas location.
• Avoid criticism, sarcasm, or mockery for seemingly odd patterns of behavior, speech, or new attitudes.
• Create opportunities for the returnees to express their opinions, tell their stories, show their pictures. Listen carefully and try to understand the significance of their overseas experiences. Seek to know what is important to them.
• Acknowledge that all returnees experience some sense of loss. Strange as it may seem to others, returnees often grieve for what they have left behind. They may be missing overseas friends, a stimulating environment, the feeling of being special, experiencing greater freedoms or responsibilities, or special privileges.
• Encourage the returnee to maintain personal and professional contacts with friends and institutions in the former host country(s). They will regret it if they do not.
• Offer to mark and celebrate the reentry for the returnees and those who stayed at home. Discuss their preferences for how and when to do so. Be careful of ‘surprise’ parties.
• Expect some critical comparisons of culture and lifestyle. Keep your responses neutral. It can increase your chances to learn something important about the returnee and how their world has changed. Don’t take their comments personally.
• Make contact with people who have successfully gone through the experience of returning home and refer the returnee to them - it may help both you and the returnee through a difficult period of transitioning.