Program Requirements

What deadlines are there to consider?

Students that apply by the deadlines for a program, have the best chance of receiving a placement abroad at their first choice.

Occasionally, students who apply for a site with limited placements, or miss a deadline can still submit an application and receive a placement or alternate placement. If your student is flexible in his choices, it is usually possible to find an interesting option for study abroad.

Once your student has decided on a program of study, and met the gpa or field of study components for the program, he/she will complete the application process. For most programs, students receive a USU acceptance to the program, within two weeks of the application deadline. Students will be notified by e-mail of initial acceptance, then final acceptance into the program, once the host institution/program receives and reviews the application. Students can usually expect to hear of their confirmed placement by the host program within a month of the program deadline. You can help your student review program specifics such as: program of study, cost, program dates, credits, arrangements for housing, flight and arrival information, and country entry permit requirements.

Although the USU Office of Study Abroad is available to assist students with questions and concerns, it is the student's responsibility to investigate and obtain a student entry permit or visa which may be required by the host country for stays longer than 90 days. Information about entry requirements can be found at the specific country embassy website.

A good resource for embassy links can be found at the State Department website www.travel.state.gov The State Department prepares the consular information sheets issued for each country, and is also a very valuable resource for additional international travel tips and resources. Even for students participating in other USU programs besides the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP), the ISEP website www.isep.org has a series of country handbooks with links to embassy web pages as well as other pertinent country specific information.

With all USU affiliated programs, the Office of Study Abroad will manage the registration process and the transfer of credit. Please refer to the Pre-Departure Handbook for more information about this and other specific requirements for the pre-departure process.