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International Student Exchange

With the International Student Exchange (ISE), you can attend any one of our partner schools throughout the world. The ISE offers you true immersion, since you’ll be living and studying in your host country for the Fall or Spring semester, or both! The ISE is open to all majors and you’ll need to have a 3.0 GPA in order to be eligible. What’s great about the ISE is that you pay your FIU tuition, which means any scholarships or financial aid that you receive can go towards your study abroad experience. A student can either go in the UCC in ISE program or the ISE program depending on their academic requirements.

Find Your Program! 
Partner Institutions 

Benefits

  • Study alongside students from your host country in regular university courses at any one of our ISE Partner Institutions.
  • Experience student life and true immersion by getting involved on campus
  • Pay your FIU tuition and receive all of your regular scholarships and financial aid
  • Open to all majors

Important Deadlines

All application materials must be submitted by the following dates:

  • Fall or Academic Year – March 2
  • Spring – September 16

If you’re looking for an affordable way to get truly immersed in another culture, the International Student Exchange (ISE) program is a phenomenal option. This program is open to all majors. During the exchange, participants study alongside local students in regular university courses at one of our partner institutions. Participants enroll in the equivalent of 12 or more credits towards major, minor or general degree program requirements. Students still pay FIU tuition and are able to receive all the same scholarships and financial aid they normally would for on-campus courses. Participants are responsible for all other expenses (flights, housing, living expenses, etc.).

  • Minimum 3.0 GPA
  • Language Fluency (reading, writing and speaking) in the language of instruction (please refer to location details on the Program pages)
  • May not go during your final semester at FIU
  • Students must take 12 credits or more towards their major, minor, or general degree program while abroad
  • All University Core Curriculum (UCC) must be completed

The application process

If you have any questions regarding the program, the application process, or if you’d like to RSVP for a session or meet with a Education Abroad Coordinator, please call our office at (305) 348-1913. Good luck!

Apply Now!

  • Step 1 – Attend an International Student Exchange (ISE) Application Prep-Meeting

    Attend an application prep meeting and learn how to begin your journey into ISE.

    Events

  • Step 2 – Browse Schools/Regions

    Take a look at the universities we have partnerships with on our ISE Partner Institutions page. Not only will these pages give you general information regarding each university, they also include a link to each university’s official website so you can start browsing around there as well. Keep in mind that certain schools are only available to certain majors or students in particular programs.

    Study Abroad in East Asia
    Study Abroad in North America
    Study Abroad in Oceania
    Study Abroad in Scandinavia & the UK
    Study Abroad in South America
    Study Abroad in Southeast Asia
    Study Abroad in Southern Europe
    Study Abroad in the Middle East
    Study Abroad in Western Europe

  • Step 3 – Browse Courses

    Once you’ve narrowed down which schools interest you, click on each school’s official link and navigate your way to their course offerings. Check to see if any of the courses offered could apply to your degree requirements. Remember, while abroad you can take courses towards your major, minor, or elective requirements. What’s important is that the courses taken abroad somehow fulfill requirements towards your degree.

  • Step 4 – Appointment with Academic Advisor

    You will be able to then make an appointment with our academic advisor and with your Academic Advisor to tell them that you’re interested in studying abroad and have looked up possible courses that could fulfill FIU courses. Find out what courses you can transfer in, what courses must be taken at FIU, and what courses you have yet to fulfill within your program. Remember, at this first appointment your advisor won’t officially be approving courses, it’s just for you to get a better idea of what courses you need so you’ll know what to look for in a potential host institution.

    Corey Ryan, Outbound Exchange Program Advisor

  • Step 5 – FIU Education Abroad Application

    You’ll need to follow the first checklist that says International Student Exchange. As you’ll see, you’ll need two Letters of Recommendation. At least one needs to be from someone academic (a professor or advisor); the other can be academic as well, or it can be an employer or coach. You should only make ONE application.

  • Step 6 – Application Submission

    Submit all materials by the deadlines. (March 2nd or September 16th) on the online application.

  • Step 7 – Interview

    Once you’ve submitted your application, an interview will be scheduled, which will give our office a chance to get to know you better, ask questions, and give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the rest of the application process. You will also need to provide us with your top 3 choices, with a maximum of 2 universities in any given region.

  • Step 8 – Conditional Acceptance

    If you’re approved in the interview, you’ll be offered Conditional Acceptance. This means that you’ve made it through part 1 of the application process.

  • Step 9 – Host University Application

    In your Conditional Acceptance letter, you’ll be given the link or an attachment of the host university application, along with instructions on where and when to turn it in.

  • Step 10 – Post-Acceptance

    There are a number of additional forms to be filled out once you’ve been conditionally accepted:

    • Medical Information Form
    • Declaration of Finances Form
    • Financial Aid Form
  • Step 11 – Course Equivalency

    Once you’ve been accepted, go back to your advisor for your second meeting and have him or her fill out and sign off on your Course Pre-Approval Form to find out how the courses abroad will transfer into FIU. You’ll need to bring course descriptions/syllabi of the courses that interested you to this meeting so that your advisor can determine an appropriate FIU equivalent. Ideally, you’ll want them to sign off on more courses than you actually plan to take, just in case some of the courses you wanted are full or aren’t being offered.

  • Step 12 –Visa

    Our office will provide you with a Consulate Letter and an Acceptance Letter to help you get your visas. However, it is your responsibility to find out whether you require a student visa and to apply for and obtain a student visa on your own.

     

  • Step 13 – Pre-departure

    Before you leave on your program, you will be required to attend a *mandatory* Pre-Departure Orientation where you’ll be given a pre-departure packet to prepare you for your trip. In addition, you can join our Facebook group and become a fan of our fan page for important pre-departure information.