Study abroad enriches your life and expands your horizons both personally and professionally! On a personal level, you will develop resiliency, problem-solving, independence, and communication skills, have the opportunity to travel and explore, make new friends all over the world, develop insight and understanding about a whole new culture, and possibly improve your language skills. On a professional level, you will find that employers really value your demonstrated abilities to work cross-culturally, and that this experience will help to set you aside from other candidates during your initial application and interview period. From an academic perspective, you may find that your understanding and perspective regarding your major and studies have developed considerably, and you will likely have an opportunity to take courses that are not currently on offer here at AUS! We’ve had study abroad students receive full-scholarships to return to their host university for graduate school, experience valuable internships abroad, and even meet their future life partner! Study abroad opens many new doors and opportunities, and you just never know where that is going to lead you!
4. Attend our Study Abroad Fairs and Information Sessions. We will announce these events during the first month of each semester.
5. Talk to any IXO students studying abroad at AUS this semester – you may find them in your classes, or you will typically find someone in our IXO Lounge in MG50.
6. Keep an eye out for our IXO Newsletters, published monthly, and containing new study abroad opportunities around the world.
7. From ISEP's home page, click Students on the blue bar and search for a program.
In most cases, study abroad programs are only open to Junior I, Junior II and Senior I students. To go for a study abroad, AUS students must have a minimum 2.5 GPA, a minimum of 60 earned credits, and be in good standing. Note that most programs require a 2.75, and a few require a 3.0. Students may also take courses outside of AUS for the summer term. Because this option is not considered an official study abroad program, students need only a 2.0 GPA and to have completed 1 semester of courses.
Exchange Students: Most AUS students go abroad as Exchange Students, which means they study abroad through a Bilateral Partner or through ISEP Exchange.
In most cases, students who study abroad graduate as expected. Credits taken during your study abroad typically transfer back and count toward your graduation requirements. The only time this doesn’t happen is when students fail to achieve the specified grade required in a particular class in order to transfer the credits. Even in that situation, however, students typically are able to make it up during a summer session.
Your study abroad semester will have no impact on your cumulative GPA. Assuming you get the required grades, credits taken during your study abroad will transfer back and count toward your graduation. However, grades received abroad will not transfer back at all. You will receive an official transcript from your host university, showing the GPA you received during your study abroad – and you can report this when applying to graduate schools, etc.
Studying abroad is very affordable. Most extra costs are associated with travel, insurance and visa arrangements. The following extra costs may apply:
AUS students on grants/scholarships must obtain approval from the Office of Financial Grants and Scholarships ([email protected]) before starting a semester abroad at a host university.
In cases where the AUS student pays tuition and/or housing fees directly to AUS for study abroad (ie Bilateral Partners or ISEP Exchange) the student will continue to apply their AUS grants and AUS-funded scholarships for that semester abroad. In all other cases of students studying abroad, financial grants and AUS-funded scholarships will not be awarded.
These students should speak with the Financial Grants and Scholarship Manager for more information.
Students sponsored by an organization outside of AUS are responsible for getting approval from and making arrangements with their sponsor.
AUS students receiving tuition benefits because of a faculty parent are also welcome to study abroad and retain that benefit.
Please note: Dean’s List and Chancellor’s List Scholarships may be impacted due to Study Abroad. Talk to the Financial Grants and Scholarship ([email protected]) Manager to clarify.
Visit us at MG50 to talk with a Peer Advisor about your options.
Complete IXO’s online application.
If you want to go abroad as an Exchange Student, you will need to plan ahead! It takes about a year to plan and arrange for an exchange program, and deadlines vary by program. You will start by completing your online IXO application, and then if you are applying through ISEP Exchange you will also need to complete an online ISEP application. For bilateral partners, once IXO nominates you to our partner university, you will also need to complete an online application at the nominated partner/host university. The following are the deadlines for completing your online IXO applications:
To study abroad in Fall Semester:
To study abroad in Spring Semester:
Bilateral partner/host universities will each have their own online application deadlines that will follow the IXO deadlines shown above. Note that deadlines to complete your online ISEP applications once approved by IXO will be September 1 for Spring and February 15 for Fall.
Please allow 2 to 5 weeks to complete your applications. Time required will vary by program. Total time to complete all required bilateral partner applications will typically be about 2 to 3 weeks. Total time to complete all required ISEP applications will typically be closer to 5 weeks. Visiting students should allow 4 to 5 weeks to complete their applications.
Yes. A non-refundable fee of AED 300 will be charged to all outgoing Bilateral Exchange and Visiting Students. ISEP students pay a non-refundable AED 500 upon applying, and this covers their application fee to ISEP as well. See the ISEP website for more details.
You can see details on our partner institutions at https://aus.studioabroad.com. You should also look at the Directory of Universities found at the ISEP website*. You may study at any university so long as it is an accredited university recommended by the UAE MOHESR, the language of instruction is English, and it has the accreditations required by your major (i.e. Engineering requires ABET- or Washington Accord-accreditation; Business/Economics requires AACSB- or EQUIS-accreditation). If you are planning to attend a European university, please be aware that you will only be allowed to transfer credits back for courses that are worth 6 ECTS credits or more. We recommend that you review proposed ECTS-credit courses with the IXO Advisor. The major specific brochures contain specific recommendations for approved host universities appropriate for your major.
By the last day of classes for the semester prior to your study abroad, you will turn in a Course Permission Form listing all of your intended courses abroad, signed off by your Associate Dean. The Associate Dean will specify whether you need to achieve a B grade or a C grade, typically depending on whether you are taking a major required/elective course, or just a Gen-ed requirement. You will need to be sure to earn that required grade during your study abroad semester, and so long as you’ve turned in your assigned course permission form, you can be certain your credits will transfer and count toward your graduation upon your return.
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