As educators question what college should look like in the 21st century, one answer is: global.

And to higher education trailblazers, that means more than junior year abroad or overseas internships. They find campuses to be insular places that leave students ill prepared for a globalized world, and they question the efficacy of traditional pedagogy, especially the lecture format, at a time when the same information can be imparted online.

Consider one emerging approach, wherein students hop from campus to campus across continents, earning an undergraduate degree in the process. In these programs, they spend the majority of their college years outside the United States and immerse themselves in diverse cultures. Foreign cities are their classrooms.

“More and more students, especially at the elite end, are realizing, ‘I can get my basic learning on the Internet and then have this collection of experiences around the globe that enhances who I am as a person,’” said Michael B. Horn, a co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute.

Campus hopping is not for everyone. Many students don’t want to give up the sustained community built over four years on a campus. Administrators note that 18-year-olds who choose this unorthodox college path have a special blend of traits: maturity, curiosity, adventurousness, flexibility and openness.