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Sponsored Study Abroad Programs
The chief differences between exchanges and what are here called Sponsored Study Abroad Programs relate to who sponsors the program and the level of student support services provided on site. Sponsored Study Abroad Programs offer Baruch students the opportunity to study in many locations in which Baruch or CUNY does not have an exchange program, and allows students to study in a country in whose language they are not fluent. Sponsored Study Abroad Programs may be short-term, a semester or year-long.
Some program sponsors facilitate direct enrollment in foreign universities, and students study at the host university much as do Baruch students attending normal Baruch and CUNY exchanges. However, unlike these exchange programs, a Study Abroad Program sponsor frequently provides an on-site staff to facilitate enrollment and provide housing and other services (on exchanges, these matters are taken care of by the staff of the host university international office or its equivalent). In terms of choice of courses, however, students on these Sponsored Study Abroad Programs that facilitate direct enrollment normally have the same choices as do students attending the university on an exchange.
Other Sponsored Study Abroad Programs offer custom-designed courses to students that are not part of a local university's curriculum. Such programs provide courses in English in non-English-speaking countries for students without fluency in the local language, and who are therefore unable to enroll directly in a local university. These programs may also provide courses in the local language, but at a lower level than full fluency. They may also teach courses that require fluency in the local language, but which are patterned more closely on the curriculum of a college or university in the United States. These sponsored programs ordinarily also have an on-site staff that organizes the teaching, in some cases provides academic advising, arranges housing, and organizes excursions for students on the program.
All Sponsored Study Abroad Programs charge a program fee for the extra services they provide, in addition to the tuition paid to a local university if applicable, and the range of services offered, and the corresponding program costs vary widely. When choosing your study abroad program, be sure to look closely at what the program fee covers. (Please see the Study Abroad Budget Planning Worksheet) Sponsored Study Abroad Programs frequently provide an added measure of assistance that you and/or your parents might find reassuring. The programs recommended by the Study Abroad Office are sponsored by institutions that in the past have provided academically sound courses and good auxiliary services. Yet there are many fine and reputable program sponsors that are not on the list of recommended programs, and you may petition to attend programs that are not currently on the list. All such petitions require the approval of the Baruch College Study Abroad Director.