Partner programs
- Offered by the University
- Easier for students to take advantage of
- University financial aid can help
The type of program you choose will be impacted by your academic needs and interests. Explore program types below. If you’re looking for a specific area of study, our program search tool or full program list can help.
Rochester students trade places with their abroad counterparts for a semester or year. This offers the chance for students in each country to meet past, current, and future participants.
Learn more about University exchange programs
A summer program is a great option if you are thinking about studying abroad, but aren’t quite sure if you would like to spend a full semester or can fit an academic year abroad into your plans.
You can participate in a summer program as early as the summer after your first year. Students can participate in internships, experiential activities and short-term, faculty-led programs.
While virtual opportunities aren’t meant to take the place of a physical study abroad experience, they can be a great way to get academic and intercultural experience.
Integrated (also called direct enrollment) programs are arranged by a sponsoring US college or consortium. They let you enroll directly in a foreign university alongside local students.
These programs provide American-style transcripts, academic advising, and orientation for US college students. Despite support, full immersion in the host culture is challenging and requires a high level of maturity, flexibility, and resourcefulness.
Browse programs by country or region
Island programs are great if you’d like to study in a place where you don’t have mastery in the host country’s language.
On an island program, you will take courses that have been specifically created for the program. They are arranged by a sponsoring college or consortium, and are taught either by faculty members of the home campus, or by host country faculty contracted for individual courses.
Summer study abroad programs are normally “island” programs because most universities abroad do not offer regular instruction during the summer.
Combined programs, or “hybrids”, blend island programs with direct enrollment at foreign universities. On-site academic advising helps ease the transition into the foreign university setting.
Students seeking full integration may prefer combined programs due to the greater challenges of direct enrollment. Even if students are reasonably fluent in the local language, there are often significant differences in learning, teaching, and testing styles.
Browse programs by country or region
Study abroad programs often blend traditional academics with hands-on experience through internships. These programs place you in an internship while you take courses. Internships are offered by many organizations and in various fields, including politics, medical research, museums, theaters, businesses, and media.
Internship programs provide academic credit and are not paid. Most countries don’t allow students to enter and then obtain paid employment.
You can search for internship, research, volunteer, and service learning opportunities on these websites:
Rochester has partnerships with many overseas schools where you can directly enroll. But if you have a specific school in mind that fits your academic and personal interests, you may be able to apply independently.
This independent option is not available for institutions where Rochester has an existing partnership. You must apply through the University of Rochester.
If you enroll independently at a university that does not issue an US-style transcript, you will be required have your transcript evaluated by a service such as World Education Service (WES). They can document your successful completion of the program of study.
To transfer credit, you will need to bring back syllabi and reading lists for each course, along with all your written work: notes, essays, research papers, examinations, and any available evaluations of your work by abroad faculty. We will review these documents with faculty before credit can be granted.