Overview: You and IU Overseas

At Indiana University you can make overseas study a part of your regular degree program, whatever your major. You have the opportunity to spend a full academic year, a semester, or a summer abroad earning IU credit while enrolled in outstanding foreign universities or in classes especially designed for international students.

Overseas study is the most effective and dramatic experience you can have to broaden your international and intercultural awareness. IU's programs abroad are intensive educational experiences that combine academic excellence with cross-cultural learning.

IU offers more than 80 overseas study programs in 17 languages (including English) in 37 countries and in nearly every field of study. For example, you can study Renaissance art in Florence, the European Union in Maastricht, tropical biology in Costa Rica, Japanese in Nagoya, Aboriginal culture in Wollongong, or African history in Ghana.

You do not have to be a foreign language major to study abroad. Some academic-year programs require a strong foreign language background, permitting you to attend regular courses at the host university. Other programs, especially those in the summer, provide intensive language instruction that speeds your fulfillment of foreign language or international dimension requirements. A number of semester programs offer courses, in English, on international topics such as multinational corporations or environmental policy. There is no foreign language requirement for over half of the IU study abroad programs.

You may participate in summer programs as early as your freshman year. Academic-year and semester programs normally require junior or senior standing.

You can study abroad and still graduate on time. Indiana University grants credit for all its programs so that you can continue normal academic progress while abroad. The majority of students who study overseas graduate within four years, or 128 hours, which means that overseas study is an option for GradPact students. Approved course work satisfies major, minor, distribution, international dimension, and culture studies requirements.

Programs administered by Indiana University are modestly priced, and you may apply IU financial aid to all program costs. Scholarships are available for students from nonresidential campuses, minority students, and qualified students on selected programs.

IU facilitates your experience. The Office of Overseas Study provides a network of support services that include academic advising, predeparture orientation, peer counseling with students who have studied abroad, group flights, and assistance with visas, housing, health insurance, and registration on your home campus for the semester after you study abroad. Faculty resident directors and local coordinators are available on your overseas program to assist you with academic, cultural, and personal needs. Here on our website you can get detailed information on any program and for most programs you can even apply online.

Plan ahead! Explore the wide range of opportunities for study abroad early in your university career. Visit the Overseas Study Information Center in Bloomington or contact your campus coordinator.

Enroll in GLLC-G 291 Study Abroad: Before You Go.  GLLC-G 291 Study Abroad: Before You Go is a 1 credit class taught on the Bloomington campus every fall semester.  This 2nd 8-week class is designed to prepare students for an upcoming study abroad experience.  Taught from an interdisciplinary perspective, the course will stimulate students to think about and openly discuss their primary goals/ concerns with overseas study.  The course is structured around four major topics: 1) pre-departure considerations; 2) life in the host country; 3) strategies for recognizing obstacles and overcoming challenges; and 4) integrating study and daily personal experiences with post-travel educational goals.

For more information or permission to enroll in the class, please contact Overseas Study at overseas@indiana.edu or 812-855-9304.