Effective global leaders require strong communication skills and cultural literacy, which are central to intercultural communication. While study abroad programs have supported intercultural awareness, their cost and time demands limit accessibility. In this context, virtual exchanges (VE) offer a more participatory alternative. This study examines how a VE between students from a U.S. university [USU] and a Latin American university [LAU] supports intercultural competence by addressing three questions: (1) how students' attitudes toward cultural differences change, (2) how students reflect on communication and empathy in intercultural settings, and (3) what insights students gain about culture, identity, and self‑awareness. A convergent mixed‑methods design integrated pre‑ and post‑surveys with semi‑structured interviews. For RQ1 (Openness & Curiosity), USU showed significant gains in suspending judgment (AO2 4.68→5.45) and supportiveness (SE8 4.58→5.07), with nonsignificant changes in curiosity; LAU increased in complex cultural knowledge (KW10 4.50→5.23) and self‑bias awareness (KS12 4.28→5.00). Qualitatively, both groups entered relatively open; USU drew on prior multicultural exposure, while LAU's openness grew as language anxiety eased. Curiosity was expressed through campus/life comparisons (USU) and moderated by prior exchanges (LAU).

To conclude, findings suggest that the VE supported intercultural competence development in distinct ways across student groups, with more pronounced gains observed among LAU participants and modest but positive directional trends among USU students. These results highlight the importance of intentionally designed VEs that incorporate sustained interaction, reflection, and support mechanisms to foster meaningful intercultural learning.