In an increasingly globalized job market, international issues will affect every professional field from trade and politics to research and communication. International issues affect every field of study and students who study abroad gain global perspectives to prepare them for living and working in an interconnected and interdependent world.
Suggested Programs by Major
Below find curated lists of suggested programs for individual majors if you need some guidance:
Engineering
Natural Sciences
School Specific Information
- Engineering
- Natural Sciences
- Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Students can find coursework for every major and minor abroad, if they are flexible, as well as courses to fulfill general education requirements.
Be sure to meet with the academic advisor for your major as early as possible so that he/she can help you generate your academic plan to include study abroad.
Find a program in your major
Students can do a custom search using program search tools.
Engineering
Engineering students are most likely to take engineering coursework with a host university, usually in an immersion program (often an exchange program), or take SSHA area GEs while abroad. Students should understand that most immersion programs will require a minimum GPA of 2.75 to 3.0. Students looking to fulfill requirements in Natural Sciences or SSHA can look to the Natural Sciences and SSHA sections below.
Students may be able to complete introductory level science courses over the summer through one of the international summer school programs, but students should be aware that summer financial aid is more limited.
Below are some guidelines to finding programs for engineering students:
- Bioengineering: a listing of programs offering bioengineering
- Computer science and engineering: a listing of programs offering computer science
- Environmental engineering: environmental engineering is usually considered an interdisciplinary area of engineering and students should search for programs offering both engineering and environmental studies and science to get a sense of available programs. Students might start with programs in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.
- Material science and engineering: a listing of programs offering material science
- Mechanical engineering: a listing of programs offering mechanical engineering
Natural Sciences
Natural Sciences students typically take courses at a host university, usually in an immersion program (often an exchange program), do a biology fieldwork program (typically ecology), or take SSHA area GEs while abroad. Students should understand that most immersion and fieldwork programs will require a minimum GPA of 2.75 to 3.0. Students looking to fulfill requirements in SSHA abroad can look to the SSHA section below.
Students may be able to complete introductory level science courses over the summer through one of the international summer school programs, but students should be aware that summer financial aid is more limited.
Below are some guidelines to finding programs for students studying in the natural sciences:
- Applied mathematical sciences: a listing of programs offering mathematics
- Biological sciences: a listing of programs offering biological sciences
- Chemical sciences: a listing of programs offering chemistry
- Earth systems science: earth systems science is usually considered an interdisciplinary area of sciences and students should search for programs offering both earth and space sciences and environmental studies and science to get a sense of available programs.
- Natural science education: a listing of programs offering education
- Physics: a listing of programs offering physics
Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
SSHA students have a variety of programs from which they can choose because many requirements can be fulfilled with coursework from abroad.
Below are some guidelines to finding programs for students studying in humanities, social sciences and arts:
- American studies: a listing of programs offering American studies
- Anthropology: a listing of programs offering anthropology
- Arts: students may want to search a listing of programs offering courses in art studio and art history
- Chicano/a studies: Chicano/a studies is a field of study fairly unique to the United States. To find applicable coursework, students should find programs offering anthropology, history, sociology, and/or Spanish and consult their academic advisor. For many students, Mexico may be the ideal study abroad destination if they have sufficient Spanish.
- Cognitive science: cognitive science is usually considered an interdisciplinary field and students should search for programs offering one or more of the following: psychology, philosophy, political science, arts, management, economics, biology, or computer science.
- Critical Race & Ethnic Studies: suggested programs for the major
- Economics: a listing of programs offering economics
- English: a listing of programs offering English
- History: a listing of programs offering history
- Management: management is unique to UC Merced and students should search for programs offering coursework in economics and/or business.
- Philosophy: a listing of programs offering philosophy
- Political science: a listing of programs offering political science
- Psychology: a listing of programs offering psychology
- Public health: a listing of programs offering health sciences
- Sociology: a listing of programs offering sociology
- Spanish: a listing of programs offering Spanish
- Writing: fulfilling writing requirements abroad requires consultation with your SSHA advisor. This is not typically a field directly served via study abroad but students may still be able to fulfill other requirements.
* Updated 2021 |