Berquist, executive director of the Office of Study Abroad, said the latest rankings released earlier this week will not affect the offered study abroad programs.

“The value of the ranking is how it’s perceived by the high school student market,” he said during a presentation. “The top 10 ranking does not have much effect on the value of our programs.”

Berquist also said in a survey of admitted students, MSU’s study abroad program has consistently ranked No. 1 on the student’s attraction to MSU, even in years before MSU reached a top 10 ranking nationally.

During the presentation, Berquist said MSU has a 26 percent participation rate in study abroad, compared to the national average of 14 percent.

“Our international engagement brand is strong, thriving (and) excellent,” Berquist said.

MSU has the largest study abroad catalog in the nation, with more than 300 programs in all seven continents. Most of these programs target undergraduates, but Berquist said MSU is looking to attract more graduate and doctoral students.

The doctoral study abroad fellowship has received about 20 applications for the 2014 year, Berquist said. In addition to targeting doctoral and graduate students, the study abroad program is hoping to entice academically at-risk students and first generation college-going students. Berquist said study abroad programs usually bolster at-risk students, with program averages showing that study abroad students have a higher GPA, better retention of information learned and an accelerated time to earning their degree.

“We always want the number one spot,” Acting provost June Youatt said. “In the next evolution, what do we want for our students? How do we better connect the programs to research and the global challenges we have said we want to address? These are real questions I think faculty need to grapple with in next couple years. We are not changing things because they are broke, but because we are the first ones out on the curve.”