The chief difference, and for many the benefit of a Sponsored Study Abroad Program is the level of student support services it will offer you on site. However, the range of Sponsored Study Abroad Programs available offers Baruch students an 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, semester-long or year-long.
Some Sponsored Study Abroad Programs will help you enroll in foreign universities, and students who choose this option study at the host university much as do Baruch students attending a normal exchange. However, unlike these exchange programs, Sponsored Study Abroad Programs often have on-site staff who will facilitate your enrollment and will provide other student services. Students who enroll in a foreign university through a Sponsored Study Abroad Program will normally have the same choices as do students attending the university on an exchange.
Other Sponsored Study Abroad Programs offer students custom-designed courses that are not part of a local university’s curriculum, and that are normally not taught at a university. Such programs frequently provide courses in English in non-English-speaking countries for students without fluency in the local language, and who would therefore be unable to enroll in a local university. These programs may also provide courses in the local language, but at a lower level than full fluency. 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 in addition to the tuition paid to a local university, if applicable, to pay for the on-site staff who help you register for courses, arrange your housing, provide other advisory services, and organize excursions for students on the program. The range and quality of services offered and the corresponding program costs vary widely.