Embark on a Global Journey: CU Boulder Education Abroad Programs

Studying abroad is an integral part of the CU academic experience, providing an incredible opportunity to travel, explore, and broaden your experience and perspectives while staying on track to meet your degree requirements. CU Boulder Education Abroad offers more than 350 approved programs in over 65 countries around the world. Program options exist for every major and are offered for every term including winter break and summer break, with numerous options of varying lengths and credit amounts.

Planning Your Adventure

To get the most of your experience, it is best to start planning as early as possible. Planning to go abroad varies by major, but it is recommended that students have an initial planning conversation with an academic advisor as early as possible. A growing list of over 10,000 pre-approved courses provides approved courses abroad for various degree requirements.

Academic Considerations

Do you have specific credits you need to earn while abroad to stay on track for graduation? Use the Areas of Study option on our Program Search to see which programs might offer credit for your major or minor. Our Academics page and Course Approval Search can also help you work out what programs will get you the credit you need.

Financial Planning

What do you normally pay for tuition here at CU? Does your Ed Abroad program need to be about the same or less than what you spend on CU tuition? Or is your budget flexible? Our Program Costs page will give you a breakdown of the costs for each of our programs, or you can filter programs by cost within our Program Search.

To give you a way to filter by program costs, you can select $, $$, $$$, or $$$$ within the Estimated Total Costs option in our Program Search to indicate your budget (you should Ctrl + Click to select more than one if your budget spans more than one of these categories).

Semester Programs

\$ - Comparable to or less than CU in-state costs (\$15,000 - \$21,000)
\$\$ - Between CU in-state and out-of-state costs (\$21,000 - \$28,000)
\$\$\$ - Comparable to CU out-of-state costs (\$28,000 - \$34,000)
\$\$\$\$ - Higher than CU out-of-state costs (rare) (\$34,000+)

Summer Programs

\$ - \$6,000 - \$8,000
\$\$ - \$8,000 - \$11,000
\$\$\$ - \$11,000 - \$14,000
\$\$\$\$ - \$14,000+

Program costs vary, and include over 30 programs that are comparable to semester costs for in-state students.

On-Site Experience

Once you've narrowed down the credits you need and your budget, then comes the fun part - thinking about the kind of experience you want to have.

Program Types

One of the most important things to consider when choosing an education abroad program is the type of program you're looking at, as this will play a major role in shaping your day-to-day experience. Choosing the program type that's right for you is just as important as choosing a particular city or country in which to study.

Study Abroad Centers

Direct Enroll & Exchanges

Enrolling at a university abroad lets you take courses at a host university with local students. CU Boulder students spend a semester or year at a partner institution abroad and students from the partner institution come to CU Boulder in exchange. Exchanges often provide a higher level of independence than other programs. Exchanges program fees are around in-state tuition. Students who come to CU enrich our campus community. Some programs offer exchange positions exclusively and others offer both exchange and non-exchange positions. In cases where both are offered, exchange positions can be viewed similarly to scholarships - while they are available, they are not guaranteed. Students must be prepared to pay non-exchange fees for these programs. Compare exchange and non-exchange fees for programs offering both options on the Program Costs page.

Multi-Site

On a multi-site program, you spend your term abroad in more than one country, traveling extensively as part of the academic itinerary.

Read also: Research at CU Boulder

You will:

Visit many different countries and learn about many different cultures in a short period of time
Explore learning in different contexts

Considerations:

No full immersion in a single culture
Not always conducive to language acquisition
Constantly new and different experiences may be overwhelming
Requires adaptability and eagerness to explore - once you get comfortable with one location, it's time to move and readapt

Examples:

Semester at Sea: visit 8-12 countries during a semester voyage
CIEE's Open Campus: study in up to 3 different cities
SIT's IHP: focus on a specific topic, such as climate change, and visit 3-4 continents to study that topic in different contexts

Field Study

Your learning takes place outside of the classroom on a field study program. SFS & SIT students Have less time for independent travel on the weekends.

Research

Gain hands-on research experience and do a deep dive into a subject you're interested in. Assist with quantitative data collection on a long-term research project, work alongside researchers in a lab, or develop your own research project. Research Program Providers Arcadia, DIS, SIT, SFS, SEAGain.

International Internships

Internships abroad provide students with the opportunity to combine experiential learning and academic theory as a means to gain professional experience and develop a new perspective on a career field. You will experience what it's like to navigate the work culture in your host country and have the chance to expand your international network all while earning academic credit. Ed Abroad internships include an accompanying course that complements the internship experience and allows students to receive credit for the experience. See the Internships Abroad page for more info on how internship credit may be applied to your degree.

Part-Time Internships

Some programs offer a part-time internship experience alongside regular coursework. Your internship would also be accompanied by a course that complements your internship experience.

Full-Time Internships

These are full-time internships that take place over the summer, with an accompanying course that complements your internship experience.

CU Faculty-Led Programs

Global Seminars

Travel abroad with a small group of CU Boulder students (approx. 10-25) and a CU Boulder faculty member to study a specific topic. These programs run in the summer, including Maymester and Augmester options.

Take courses in a small group setting with a CU professor
Experience your coursework first-hand using local sites as your classroom
Focus on a specific topic
Receive letter grades
Get to know a small group of CU Boulder students

Global Intensives

Global Intensives are short-term international programs embedded into a fall, spring, or summer course taught on the CU Boulder campus. These are a great way to "get your feet wet" with international travel.

Enroll in a Global Intensive as one of your on-campus classes in the fall or spring.
Go abroad for 10-12 days during spring break, after finals in May, during summer, or over fall break
Take a course in a small group setting with a CU professor
Focus on a specific topic
Receive letter grades
Get to know a small group of CU Boulder students

CU in D.C.

Spend time living, studying, and interning in the nation’s capital, putting classroom learning into real world action.

Partnering with CIEE

To ensure students get the highest quality academics and most culturally immersive experience possible, CU has partnered with CIEE: Council on International Educational Exchange, the nonprofit world leader in international education. CIEE offers one-of-a-kind programs across academic areas in fascinating cities around the world! CIEE is committed to helping every student - regardless of socioeconomic background or academic major - access a transformative study abroad experience. As a result, CIEE offers more scholarships, grants, and other funding opportunities than any other provider to help make your study abroad experience a reality. Simply fill out the CIEE Scholarships and Grants application along with your program application. You will be considered for every scholarship and grant you are eligible to receive. There are scholarships for studying abroad applicable to CU Boulder programs. CIEE does a great job with integrating a true cultural experience in a variety of ways.

Visa Considerations

No time for a visa? No problem! Does the idea of a visa application process stress you out? Check out some of these semester programs that either don’t require a visa at all or have a relatively quick and easy visa application process!

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