University of Maryland Undergraduate Catalog 2011-2012

Education Abroad provides international, academically-based experiences in support of students' personal, professional and intellectual development. Programs are designed to promote intercultural competence, disciplinary scholarship and foreign language acquisition. Education Abroad inspires and informs students, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to effectively engage with local and global communities and become culturally perceptive citizens. These outcomes are cultivated and sustained by:

Identifying and developing safe, affordable, academically rigorous, geographically diverse, culturally challenging and transforming study abroad programs across a wide range of disciplines

Advising students in the selection of suitable programs
Preparing students to maximize learning opportunities while abroad and upon their return
Administering high-quality study abroad programs in partnership with UM faculty and staff and colleagues from other institutions
Integrating study abroad with campus curriculum, programs and activities
Increasing student participation in study abroad
Advocating for international education to enrich UM's institutional identity

Dependent on departmental approval, students may use study abroad to fulfill major, minor, or graduation requirements, including CORE and electives. In addition to coordinating programs sponsored by academic departments, Education Abroad staff offers advising to all University of Maryland students interested in studying abroad.

Study Abroad Process

Students considering studying in another country for a semester, year, summer or winter are encouraged to visit Education Abroad and review the website approximately one year before they plan to study abroad.

The office's resource library provides information on programs offered by Maryland as well as by other universities and other providers. Education Abroad staff informs students of the necessary steps in obtaining academic credit and applying financial aid to their program of choice.

Types of Study Abroad Programs

Programs sponsored by Maryland's academic departments

Students may receive resident credit at Maryland for programs sponsored by UM academic departments and administered by Education Abroad. These include semester programs in London, Nice, Alcalá, Berlin, Barcelona, Rome, Shanghai, Beijing, and Haifa and short term courses taught by Maryland faculty during the Summer, Spring and Winter terms. Application information is available from the Education Abroad website.

Programs with institutional or organizational arrangements with Maryland

Maryland Exchange Programs: Exchange students are directly enrolled as full-time students at one of a number of prestigious foreign universities around the world with which the University of Maryland has agreements. In turn, students from the partner universities abroad enroll at Maryland for a semester or year. Exchanges are often related to academic departments, and require extensive language or academic background and at least a 3.0 grade point average. Many offer tuition waivers. There are specific exchange programs for students majoring in Chemistry, Journalism, Communication, and Mathematics, among other fields of study.

The University of Maryland also has agreements in place for its students to study abroad through the following institutions or organizations: Macquarie University (Australia), the University of Leiden (the Netherlands), StudyAustralia/The Education Abroad Network, the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS), ACTR Russia, and the University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC).

Programs recognized by Maryland but without any direct sponsorship or arrangement

Maryland students who wish to study abroad through other institutions must attend a General Advising session, and meet with a Study Abroad Advisor to discuss the transferability of credits before applying to the study abroad program. Details on the process for applying and transferring credit are available from the "How to Get Started" section of www.umd.edu/studyabroad .

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