A comprehensive Study Aboard program was implemented at Southern University and A & M College in 1995 to provide experiential experiences for minority students. The Southern University Study Abroad Program (SUBRSAP) is an expansion of the traditional service learning program. SUBRSAP provides opportunities for students and faculty to improve their areas of study through participating in short-term seminars in research, training, and/or curriculum development abroad. The topic of these seminars vary from social sciences, humanities, languages and other related areas.

Southern University's international partnerships allow the university to expose students to an international climate with similar social and educational problems. The purpose of this assessment is to provide a greater understanding of the SUBRSAP and to determine how this cross-cultural immersion experience is perceived by the participants once they had completed a 3-week study abroad program in Mexico. The research conducted during this assessment will provide an in-depth evaluation on the subject matter of acculturation and culture shock. This assessment analyzes data from the pre-narrative, post-narrative and annual program evaluations over a ten year period.

Culture shock implies that the experience of visiting or living in a new culture is an unpleasant surprise or shock. This assessment will define the various stages of culture shock and determine/categorize the appropriate stage of each respondent based on the results of the analyzed data. These results will provide that all the goals and objectives set by the Center for International Education and the benefits of the study abroad experience as outlined by the Institute for the International Education of Students will be proven favorably. Nearly half of all respondents will have engaged in international work and/or volunteerism since studying abroad.

Study abroad educators often assert that the ultimate goal of studying abroad is to train future global leaders to be more effective, respectful of other cultures and political and economic systems, and be willing to take a stand for the world's welfare. This overall assessment of SUBRSAP will conclude that while acculturation encompasses the entirety of the process of coming into contact with another culture, culture shock is a phenomenon that, when evidenced, can provide a measure of interaction and understanding of a culture, the very manifestation of cultural development. The recommendations of this assessment will propose that through the years, program changes have been made to accommodate students and program effectiveness. The analyzed data and result findings will affirm that the SUBRSAP is succeeding in its mission to encourage and enable students to study abroad.