Study Abroad

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page." 

—Saint Augustine (354-430)

Studying abroad is a great way to enhance your experience and learn about politics and culture from a new perspective. You will learn about how your host country views U.S. politics and politics around the globe, and you will learn about the local politics from your daily life interactions and conversation. Many students report that studying abroad is the highlight of their college career.

There are many ways to study abroad, and in addition to courses, you can participate in internships and/or volunteer experiences. There are short-term programs varying from one week to the entire summer term, semester programs, and full academic year opportunities. There is not one way to study abroad.

How do I get started?

• Visit the Learning Abroad Center's Website.
  • Here you can search programs by major, program length, and location.
• Review the Learning Abroad Process and complete a First Step Session.
• We encourage you to meet with a learning abroad advisor to discuss program types and options, study abroad scholarships, housing, and other details.

Learn abroad in political science

• Visit the Learning Abroad in Political Science Major Advising Page! This is a great starting point for programs that typically have political science course offerings.
• Meet with a political science advisor. We can discuss how courses will count towards the major, what courses have and have not been reviewed, and any other questions about your major academic planning.
• Submit your courses for evaluation via the International Political Science Transfer Course Evaluation Request Form. Once you've checked with a political science advisor, submit courses for review that haven't been reviewed or have expired via this form. Political science advising can let you know if a course has already been reviewed and does not need to be resubmitted, saving you time.
• When you are done with your program, let us know when your grades abroad have been posted! If you have any courses that count toward your political science major or minor, you need to let us know once your grades are posted. We will then make the appropriate APAS adjustment. The APAS does not know about any approved study abroad equivalencies for the major.

Contact the Political Science Undergraduate Advising Office (poladvis@umn.edu) with any questions or concerns you have in planning your study abroad experience. We are all here to help make this process go as smoothly as possible. If you are thinking of studying abroad, we encourage you to let us know so we can begin the planning process.

National Student Exchange

National Student Exchange lets you explore a new place by studying away for a semester or an academic year at one of NSE's 200 member institutions throughout the United States, Canada, and US territories including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands.

Student Study Abroad Experiences

Read the below stories to learn what it's like to study abroad as a political science student and discover what types of programs are available. We hope these stories inspire you as you begin your own study abroad journey.