As colleges are trimming back budgets, personnel, and degree programs, it seems another favorite collegiate program is now being downsized: The classic “Junior Year Abroad”.

Forget junior year abroad. More students are opting for overseas study and adventure that last as little as a week.

Some students say shorter trips interfere less with schedules packed full of required courses, sports programs and social activities on their home campuses. Even if the trips don’t have the life-altering impact of, say, a year in Vienna or Florence, students say they still want to squeeze them in to make sure they get the complete college experience.

The offerings include Butler University’s faculty-led, two-week Shakespeare tour in England, or Georgia State University’s three-week psychology program covering the historic and cultural motivations for skin-bleaching in Tanzania. The Atlanta-based university’s business school also led a two-week study of the hospitality industry in Europe, including stops at tourist sites in Spain, Monaco and Italy, wine tasting and a casino visit. Students saw five-star facilities and stayed at three-star hotels.

Those trips may not be much cheaper than a semester or full year abroad, once financial aid is factored in, but many parents like the short, heavily chaperoned programs because they leave little room for students to get into trouble in a foreign country. Colleges find that the high participation rates and promises of globally savvy students are good for marketing.

But students might be missing out on some important life experiences, like learning to be self-reliant and adaptable, by not remaining abroad longer, some college administrators say.

The quick programs could be a little too easy: Logistics are handled by the school, roommates are already familiar faces from the dorms and there is little opportunity for cultural mishaps or translation snafus that can serve as life lessons.