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Graduate and Professional Students

Overview of Opportunities

Advantages for graduate and professional students participating in UCEAP:
  • formal affiliation with top universities around the world
  • eligibility for UC financial aid
  • travel, health and accident insurance
  • assistance in finding housing
  • availability of academic advising
  • assistance in establishing relationships with host university professors
  • UC recognition of courses taken, grades and units earned 

The Role of EAP

The UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) strives to meet the needs of UC graduate and professional students for international study worldwide. (Unless stated otherwise, the term graduate student refers to both graduate and professional students.) Successful study abroad includes the input of the applicant, the graduate advisor(s), the Study Center, the partner institution, and the Systemwide Office of UCEAP.
 

Types of Graduate Participation

Graduate students can be accommodated at many UCEAP-affiliated host universities for up to one year. UCEAP offers a variety of programs for graduate students, including:

Programs Designed for Graduate Students

Graduate Student Instructors (GSI), EAP’s UC Center in Paris, France
Graduate students funded by their campuses (UC Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz) assist in the Paris Center’s fall academic program while they pursue their dissertation research. The UC Center in Paris offers a program in French and European Studies for UC undergraduates taught in English.  See your campus EAP office for details.
 
Graduate Studies, Georg-August University, Göttingen
Graduate students may enroll in regular university courses or conduct research in collaboration with a host university faculty member. Georg-August University offers a broad range of courses in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences, and is one of only nine German universities awarded the status of "elite" institutions of higher education. Some graduate courses are available in English, while others are taught in German.
 
International Relations/Pacific Studies, University of Tokyo
Students from IRPS at UCSD enroll in courses at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Public Policy. Courses are taught in English.  
 
Singapore Internship Opportunities
UC graduate students may apply for a short-term summer internship offered through the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A-STAR).  Research areas include bioengineering, biology (molecular, cellular, developmental), chemistry, chemical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, materials, and physics.
 
MBA Programs
UCEAP can accommodate UC MBA students at several EAP partner institutions.
 

Programs that Include Graduate Level Coursework

Although most UCEAP programs are designed for undergraduate students, graduate students may participate in many of these programs under the terms of UC agreements with partner institutions.
Use the UCEAP Advanced Program Search to explore UCEAP programs by country, language, subject, program length, and other attributes. The MyEAP Course Catalog allows you to search for courses previously taken for UC credit by EAP students. Host university website may also contain additional course listings.  Links to host university websites are available on the program pages.
 

Programs that Offer Language Acquisition

 UCEAP’s Language and Culture Programs focus exclusively on foreign language acquisition or on area or cultural studies with a foreign language component. Several of these programs have no language prerequisite, whereas others require minimum and/or maximum language levels before participation.
 
See EAP’s language page to explore options.
 

Independent Study or Directed Research

UCEAP requires graduate students conducting independent study or directed research to have a host university mentor; the Study Center Director may be able to serve as on-site mentor in some circumstances. In addition, EAP assumes that participating UC graduate students will continue to be supervised by their UC graduate advisors via email or other distance telecommunications.
 
Graduate students concentrating on research submit proposals to the Systemwide Office of the Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) and the supervising UC professor during application. UCEAP forwards the proposal to the Study Center, who may forward host university responses directly to the student or through UCEAP. The work of the graduate student on EAP will be evaluated by the host university mentor, and this evaluation will be passed to the Study Center Director and UCEAP. Depending on the arrangements made with the student’s home UC campus advisor, the final assessment may be made by the UC advisor or by the Study Center Director.
 
Graduate students contemplating independent study or directed research on EAP should discuss their plans with their UC advisor and check with the campus EAP Office for details.
 

Application Process

Graduate students must meet UCEAP minimum requirements, have completed at least one year of graduate work, and have the support of their academic department, graduate advisor or dissertation committee chair, and Graduate Division to apply. As part of the UCEAP application, students must submit a proposal explaining what work they wish to accomplish while abroad.

Pre-Application Procedures

Graduate applicants complete and submit a Graduate Preliminary Inquiry Form (GPIF) to the campus EAP Office with a statement of the intentions of the applicant in applying for academic study under EAP. This procedure allows for an assessment of the feasibility of the graduate student's proposed activities at the study site abroad. In some cases this step may be quite involved, but in most cases a preliminary determination can and will be made quickly by the Systemwide office of EAP in consultation with the Study Center. The Systemwide Office of EAP will notify the Campus EAP Office when the student is approved or not approved to complete the EAP on-line application. Following the approval of the GPIF, and as part of the remaining process of selection and pre-departure preparation, each graduate student and his/her advisor complete and submit an EAP Graduate or Professional Student Agreement as described below.

The Graduate or Professional Student Agreement

EAP has few academic regulations concerning graduate students. Consequently, graduate students generally follow their departmental or campus instructions as officially stipulated on the Graduate and Professional Student Agreement and Academic Planning (GSAG) form.
 
The GSAG constitutes a contract that spells out everyone’s responsibilities. Typically, those required to sign include the:
  • Applicant
  • Graduate Advisor or Dissertation Committee Chair
  • Home UC Campus Graduate Division Dean or Assistant Dean
  • Study Center Director or Liaison Officer
  • Systemwide Office of UCEAP
The GSAG addresses:
  • Specific academic and/or research activities that are planned and any limitations on them
  • Minimum number of units
  • Types of courses to be taken
  • Application of the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading option
  • Obligations of the student and the student’s good faith promise to meet these
  • Assistance to be provided by the Study Center or host university
  • Supervisory role (if any) of the Study Center Director or Liaison Officer
  • Supervisory role of the graduate advisor or dissertation committee chair along with the means by which the planned supervision will be exercised (e-mail, site visits, periodic returns home, etc.)

The final admission decision for all graduate applications, including any conditions or limitations that pertain, shall rest with the Study Center or host university. Once accepted, UCEAP will inform the Campus EAP Office of the approved intended program of study.

Minimum Load

Graduate students must be enrolled in one or more courses for UC credit. A graduate student who enrolls in independent study or research while on EAP, must, with the assistance of the Study Center abroad, be appropriately supervised by some faculty member(s) of the host institution.
 
The minimum load to qualify for UC full-time status as a graduate student depends on the student's home campus requirements and may range from 4 to 12 units per quarter (12 to 36 units per year). In some instances these general guidelines will be waived with the approval of the student's UC departmental advisor and Graduate Division as indicated on the GSAG. Graduate students are expected to be familiar with their department and Graduate Division home campus requirements prior to departure, as well as any additional requirements imposed by fellowships and other financial assistance.
 
Graduate students must carry a minimum number of units during the academic year to qualify for Financial Aid (to be eligible to receive Federal funds). See your campus Financial Aid office and your graduate division for the minimum number of units required by your campus.