Advising Services
- Engineering Students
- Transfer Students
- Video Resources
Take Engineering courses abroad: There are students who want a study abroad experience that offers engineering coursework.
Take Gen. Ed. courses abroad: There are students who want a study abroad exprience that offers General Education (GE) coursework. And there are still others who look to do BOTH!
Tip: Want to study abroad your first summer at UC San Diego? UC San Diego's Global Seminars is a great option for engineering students who want to satisfy G.E.s and other UCSD-specific requirements (like the DEI requirement) as early as the summer after their first year.
Take technical electives abroad: Students may wish to find courses that can satisfy their Technical/Breadth electives. These may be easier to get accepted, and allows you to potentially study an engineering concept/course unique to the study abroad location.
Take courses in English (or another language) abroad: When researching courses, make sure that they are taught in English... Unless of course you are looking to study abroad in another language!
Get advised: Always be sure to discuss courses you intend to take abroad with your engineering advisor! Provide course descriptions: courses must have enough detail to allow for your engineering advisor to properly assess.
Study in the summer: Summer is the most popular time for engineering students to study abroad. The upside to summer = it will not interfere with engineering course planning during the year. The downside = summer programs are shorter in duration and may have more limited options.
Study abroad during the academic year: A Fall program option is second to summer in popularity. That's because many universities around the world work on the semester system, meaning that usually Fall Semester = end of our summer + Fall Quarter. Spring Semester = Winter Quarter + Spring Quarter. While there are exceptions to this rule, Fall usually means being away one quarter while Spring covers two.
Mid-Point: Many engineering students study abroad during their third (Junior) year, though others may go as early as their first summer or during their second year, and as late as their final Quarter or Summer.
Paid internship.... or..... Study Abroad?: More senior engineering majors may find it harder to choose between study abroad and the prospect of a paid internship back home, so try to plan your timing early enough to maximize all of your opportunities!
Search By Department or College (link below): Look up programs that were previously attended by students in your engineering major. (Note: some of the listed programs may not be engineering-focused programs, but rather G.E.-focused programs that engineering students took abroad.)
Campus Credit Database (link below): UCEAP's database of courses taken by UCSD students participating on UCEAP, and how those courses have been applied back to UC San Diego's academic departments and colleges.
UCEAP Course Catalog: (link below): UCEAP's database of courses taken by all UC students participating on UCEAP.
Use the UCEAP Academics Tab: To find ALL available courses on any UCEAP program, check out the Academics Tab. On UCEAP's website, each program is listed with a series of tabs. The Academics tab contains important credit and course information, including links to all available courses, often found through the host partner's university website.
Bioengineering Study Abroad page.
CSE Study Abroad page (includes list of previous courses).
ECE Study Abroad page (includes list of previous courses).
MAE Study Abroad Page (includes list of previous courses).
NanoEngineering Study Abroad page.
UC San Diego Global Exchange Programs are study abroad opportunities between UC San Diego and partner universities. Unlike UCEAP, Global Exchange Programs are exclusively for UC San Diego students.
While abroad, participating UC San Diego students are regularly enrolled at UC San Diego, pay regular tuition and fees, and have access to their usual financial aid.
Over 70 UCEAP programs featuring Computer Science Abroad.
UC Davis offers summer engineering internships to several popular global destinations. Gain engineering internship experience in a company/firm through UC Davis' summer engineering internships.
Summer internship placements in large and small companies in a variety of engineering fields. Program is run through UC Davis.
Type of credit earned on OAP (non-UC) programs: Transfer credit
OAP courses may be applied toward your academic requirements just like UCEAP, except that courses will come in as transfer credit and sit on a seperate transcript.
OAP offers a wide choice of options and price points, and OAP programs can be more affordable for Out-of-State tuition-paying students compared to potential non-resident fees that UC-based programs may sometimes charge.
Start your search with these study abroad providers offering engineering options:
Non-UC based programs. Earn Transfer units to apply toward your academic requirements. Wide choice of options and price points.
Your engineering advisors at Jacobs School of Engineering must approve any engineering coursework that you take abroad. (Your College’s advisors must approve any General Education courses you take abroad.) To prepare for your advising appointment with your engineering advisor, be sure to do the following:
An IDEA Center WISE Session. How to Study Abroad as an Engineering Student at UC San Diego.