The number of American students weaving study-abroad sojourns into their college curriculums is continuing to grow, but the concept of what it means to study abroad is changing.

Once it meant spending a semester or a year soaking up a foreign culture and mastering a new language. But for many students now, it means a quick jaunt through China or Cuba or Kenya with a professor for a few weeks during vacation -- for credit.

Interest in programs shorter than a semester has been growing since the mid-1980's, and such programs now account for nearly 77,000 students, almost half of students studying abroad, according to new figures released by the Institute of International Education. That is a jump of 463 percent since 1985. In the same period, the number of students spending at least a semester or a quarter abroad grew by only 167 percent, to more than 82,000.

The new figures, which officials from the institute will present in Washington today, are for the 2001-2 school year, when the number of students studying abroad rose 4 percent from the year before, to a record 160,920.

An institute survey last month found that study-abroad programs overall had continued to grow. Half of the 235 respondents said they had more participants now than a year ago; 18 percent said they were at the same level; less than a third reported a decline.

The increase in short programs -- typically during the summer or January -- reflects a growing belief that students should learn more about the world beyond the United States. But it also reflects a recognition by many colleges that some students will not go abroad unless the experiences come in smaller packages.

College officials say that some students cannot take a semester away from their course work, particularly in science and engineering. Other students face financial problems. Still others do not want to walk away from family, friends or commitments like sports.

''They just like the whole campus experience, and are reluctant to leave,'' said June Schlueter, provost at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., who has taught a course on London theater, an intensive three-week session in January, about 15 times over 20 years.

Most experts on study abroad acknowledge that the shorter programs provide a very different experience from longer ones.

''If you spend a year, then you have a much greater chance of entering the reality of another country and understanding their perspective,'' said Sheila P. Bayne, director of study-abroad programs at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., which sends about 500 students abroad annually, including 150 for a whole year. ''It just takes time to figure out what another country is all about and to become fluent in the language.''

Geoffrey Bannister, executive director of the Forum on Education Abroad, said that ''the first six weeks are taken up very much by culture shock for most students, so a longer term, preferably a year, is what we would advocate if a student can do it.''

But he and others say that for those who cannot go for longer periods, the shorter courses play an important role.

''If study abroad is just a frill, then it doesn't matter so much,'' said Peggy Blumenthal, vice president for educational services at the Institute of International Education. ''But once a university has decided that study abroad is necessary for students to become globally competent, then we are obligated at least to make the opportunity available to everybody.''

It ''democratizes the study-abroad experience,'' she said.

The Stern School of Business at New York University sends its junior class -- about 500 students -- on one-week trips during spring break. The school uses money from a gift to pay for the trips to places like Mexico, Japan and Sweden, which cost about $1,000 per student, the school said.

Frederick D. S. Choi, dean of Stern's undergraduate college, said the trips sensitize students to different cultures and business styles in a way that books cannot.

''They grow up with the confidence that America is the greatest and does everything best,'' Mr. Choi said.

''The fact is that the world is full of very astute people, and students have to realize that things are done differently in different parts of the world for good reason,'' he added.

The colleges running short study-abroad courses try to build in experiences outside the classroom. The N.Y.U. business students examine one foreign company in depth. Michigan State University adds fieldwork like visits to companies or farms.

''We strive to make the courses as culturally intense as we can for the short time the students are there,'' said Kathleen Fairfax, director of Michigan State's study-abroad office.

Last year, the program sent 1,864 students abroad: 73 percent during the summer, 5 percent during winter break, 21 percent for a semester and 1 percent for the whole year.

Some students who have attended short courses say they work well. At Lafayette College, students scramble to sign up for the courses on the London theater or to visit Kenya and Tanzania.

David Norton, a senior at Lafayette who is majoring in international affairs, attended a monthlong course in China in January 2002. He expected different things from that course than from the semester he spent in Florence last spring. Mr. Norton said by e-mail that the China trip was satisfying because he might not have visited the country otherwise and he saw a radically different culture. But he said his Florence trip was too short, even though it was a full semester, because he was trying to assimilate the culture.

Elizabeth Ponder, a Lafayette senior studying biochemistry and cultural biomedicine, also took the China course. She said the short study-abroad courses let her explore new areas of the world without falling behind in her majors. She plans to study in Russia and Latvia in January and to travel abroad in the summer.

Ms. Ponder said by e-mail that she did not feel shortchanged by her brief China trip because she was ''able to absorb a huge amount of culture'' and meet people. She and her classmates ate dinner with the families of students at a kindergarten they visited and toured Beijing with local students studying English.

''One complaint I have heard from my friends who have spent a semester abroad is that the majority of their new friends are American students studying abroad like them, rather than students native to the countries they visit,'' Ms. Ponder said. ''Our trip, while short, provided us with a unique opportunity to interact with students who were not from the U.S.''

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