What Are the Different Types of Programs?

Brown University defines study abroad as a period of study at a recognized university outside of the US, during which a student from Brown is enrolled in regular undergraduate degree courses and integrated into the student body and host culture.

Non-university exceptions are allowed in certain cases where it is ensured that students spend some substantial part of their time living, studying and/or working with members of the local society.

Brown Programs

Brown University offers its students a choice of over 50 programs on four continents. Brown runs programs in Barbados, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, and the United Kingdom. These unique programs offer on-site advisors, pre-approved curriculums, and services such as orientation, language instruction and special seminars.

By participating in a Brown program in Barbados, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, or Tanzania, you will be a member of an exchange between Brown and the host university. As an exchange student, your program fees help bring students and faculty from exchange universities to Brown, and thus you assist in maintaining ties between the partner institutions and Brown. These exchanges help strengthen Brown’s relationship with other universities and support Brown’s commitment to international education.

Students must complete an online application for a Brown Program by the established deadline.

Approved Alternative Programs

In addition to the university's own programs, Brown faculty committees have approved over 130 Alternative Programs.

These programs are run by other institutions, which Brown faculty committees consider academically sound and have approved for credit transfer to Brown. They are attended on a regular basis by Brown students and are subject to frequent monitoring and review for compatibility with Brown's curriculum.

Students apply directly to the sponsoring institution and adhere to its admission deadline. Students must ALSO submit an online application to OIP by the established deadline.

Petition Alternative Programs

Students may also present an individual case for study at a location which is neither a Brown nor an Approved Alternative site. The petition process allows students to attend study abroad programs that offer very specialized curriculum areas, particularly uncommon languages or those with independently designed curricula. For these programs, students must have their petition and the curriculum approved in order to receive credit at Brown. A faculty committee reviews the proposal for its academic merit and its adherence to Brown’s Foreign Study Guidelines. In addition, the committee considers the student’s language preparation, which must meet the Brown Language Requirements for studying abroad.

Students apply directly to the sponsoring institution and adhere to its admission deadline. Students must ALSO submit an online petition to OIP by the established deadline.

Brown Foreign Study Guidelines
The College Curriculum Council Foreign Study Guidelines define foreign study as, "a period of study at a recognized university abroad, during which a student from Brown is enrolled in regular undergraduate degree courses."

A. Enrollment in Overseas Universities

Students may either apply for direct enrollment through the host university's visiting student admissions office, or they may use an OIP-approved US intermediary agency, provided that the enrollment is within the host university's regular programs and that the students take courses with local baccalaureate students. Students are normally subject to the same rules and regulations which govern the degree students of the host university. Special arrangements may be allowed for:

The evaluation of student work:
Students may have to make individual arrangements for evaluation of their work if the local institution does not normally evaluate student work at the end of the student's study abroad period. This exemption does not refer to special arrangements allowing students to deviate from the normal program or calendar of the host university.

Special language programs:
In sites where the local language is one not normally available for study by the average Brown student, students may enroll in English language programs administered by or on behalf of the host university. Yet, the student is still required to study the local language as part of their program of study.

B. Non-University Exceptions

Foreign study credit at Brown is not normally granted for study at an institution created primarily for American and/or other foreign students. However, there are a number ofexceptions:

1. Programs providing a structured curriculum in areas represented in Brown's curriculum but often not available in universities in other countries. Examples include theater and studio arts, development studies, environmental studies and community health.

2. Programs in sites where students pursuing a relevant field of study or a language at Brown cannot be expected to have mastered the local language well enough to function alongside local students.

3. Programs for the study in a specific area and/or field of research unavailable at Brown or better pursued at a foreign site. Examples: Syracuse University at Florence for History of Art and Architecture, ICCS at Rome for Classics, KCJS-Kyoto Center for Japanese Studies.

Credit will not be granted for “itinerant programs,” which are programs that are primarily tours--those spending a week or less in different locations or countries. Non-university-based programs should ensure that students spend some substantial part of the time living and studying in the country or working with members of the local society.