Internationalization of higher education is usually accompanied by rhetorical flourishes that are always going to be difficult to live up to. The research reported here is based on surveys and focus group interviews with students at our home university that asks what students expect to learn and really learn from the university study abroad program. In emphasizing what the students surveyed and interviewed for this study reported learning, or thought they might learn, we are able to offer suggestions that can narrow the breach between the rhetoric and the practice of international education and suggest ways of ensuring that students gain as much as possible from their experiences while studying abroad.