How does studying abroad work? Costs? College credit? Etc.?

In my experience, one of the single-most deciding factors is your major and the number of free electives that you have left.

Schedule a time with your academic advisor during their office hours to see how a semester abroad could work for you. Usually you can take free electives and/or humanities courses while abroad for a full semester. Many colleges have exchange-type programs meaning there is not an additional cost above what you normally pay tuition-wise except cost of living abroad (which depends on you) and the plane ticket. You take college credit courses at the school abroad that count toward your home institution's graduation. Ask your academic advisor if there is a coordinator of international travel or a program director for a specific program.

If a full semester abroad is not doable for you, most colleges have courses with international travel components or courses that you can take over the winter/summer breaks. Courses with international travel components are usually regular courses that meet during the Fall/Spring semester, but then travel as a class to a location of which you are learning about in the course. These trips are usually 7-10 days long. Winter/summer break travel can be a few weeks in length at the destination. Both options are for-credit courses.

A final option that your school might offer are volunteer trips. These are usually not for credit and are usually organized through a student life office. They typically travel during spring break or during the summer. These could be domestic travel (such as Habitat for Humanity) or international travel and are usually mission/volunteer driven and may not include a "sight-seeing" agenda.

Hi Olivia,

Karen Ruggles gave some great advice. I would like to add a few items from personal experience of studying abroad for a year in Scotland as a business major.

As she said, your major plays a lot into determining the credits that count towards your graduation. I would add that depending on the courses offered at the foreign institution, you could get credit for core classes as well. For example, my major was Entrepreneurship and International Business. I went to a university in Scotland for a year that focused on business education so was able to take 4 out of 6 courses that counted as credit to my business major core classes. So be sure to explore the foreign institutions for best fit for your major as well as location/cost.

When it comes to cost, be sure to check whether your school sponsors or subsidizes any of the cost - this could be the case for programs the school partners on. Also, be aware that some financial aid that applies to US-based institutions do not apply to foreign institutions. For example, FAFSA often only applies for US-based locations for the Pell Grant but student loans might be available taken for study abroad. If you have to take a loan, be sure to truly weigh the benefit v. long-term cost. As I chose a university that was not directly affiliated with my US university, I was not apply to apply 90% of my financial aid and had to use student loans and personal finances to go.

Finally, make sure to check the foreign country's requirements for studying abroad. If you have a short program, you most likely will have more lenient requirements for passport/travel documents. If you prefer a longer program, like my year abroad, you may be required to get a study visa as well. Housing requirements/options can be on campus, off campus or, depending on the country/institution, could be you staying with a local family.