Study abroad is often treated in terms of individual student outcomes, and has recently been discussed as potentially detrimental to smaller language programs--in that student participation in semester- or year-long programs subtracts from enrollments in upper-level courses. In this article, the promotion of study abroad in a small German program is presented as community-building that can help to enhance and sustain small college programs by strengthening the community of German-speakers and others interested in German on campus and abroad.