Study Abroad and Summer/Winter Programs

Study Abroad    

Study Abroad, widely defined, means spending a semester studying overseas at a foreign university. This option enables students to truly immerse themselves in a new culture, gain cultural awareness/adaptability, and form international friendships and professional connections. Students will also learn from a global perspective in the classroom and beyond.   

Credit for Courses 

Ideally, courses taken abroad will count toward degree progress at CSUSM, ensured via the credit approval process, an online form/contract between the student and faculty advisor that details course transference. In some cases, the host university may offer an internship course or a senior experience course (in either case, completing those courses can count toward the experiential learning requirement).  

Financial Information  

Studying abroad through CSUSM exchange partners allows students to pay the same CSUSM tuition and make full use of their CSUSM financial aid. The difference in budget is due to the cost of living in the host country, but many options offer the experience at the same cost of attendance at CSUSM! 

Planning  

Given the Global Business curriculum, the Spring semester in junior year or the Fall semester in senior year is the optimal time for study abroad; however, students can study abroad at any time. It is preferable to plan your courses in a way that you have mostly electives to complete abroad. For summer options, junior and senior years are best.    

Steps  

Studying abroad is an exciting,transformative experience, but it requires careful, continual planning and several months’ advanced preparations.  These include: 

• Attending an info session to understand the variety of study abroad options at CSUSM 

• Lodging an Advising application for your program of interest (requires CSUSM username & password) 

• After researching program options, have some countries/programs in mind to discuss with a study abroad advisor. Book appointments online 

• Begin working through the application process in the CSUSM study abroad portal.  Depending upon program selection, a secondary application process through the host institution or program administering the study abroad will be necessary, i.e. CSU International Programs, ISEP Direct. 

• Ensure travel documents are up-to-date.  New passport holders have a 4-6 week standard processing timeline, so plan accordingly.  All U.S. citizen travelers must register trip details (once known) through the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.  This system gives helpful country updates and emergency alerts to all areas registered. 

• Credit approval is one of the most important steps of the study abroad process and should be considered an ongoing conversation between the student and the Global Business director before, during, and after study abroad.  Students should aim to list up to 10 classes for their programs abroad and provide an attached Word document with course titles, units, course descriptions & even hyperlinks to partner university pages so the Global Business director can quickly understand the proposed courses and how they will fit into Global Business at CSUSM.  While the credit approval process is done well ahead of the study abroad experience, courses can and do change once host university registration opens.  As such, students should update their credit approvals accordingly to ensure courses abroad can count toward the Global Business degree.  Students may also consider including perceived course equivalencies (for core courses) from the partner university to CSUSM courses, however final authority rests with the Global Business director to evaluate and determine course equivalency. 

• Upon acceptance, students will be guided through additional pre-departure steps, including student visas, health insurance, and student travel.  It is the student’s responsibility to stay active and alert in the study abroad portal to the timely requirements post-admission. 

For more information about study abroad options, visit the Office of Global Education website
Students should attend an info session for a general overview of programs, and then book a study abroad advising session to discuss programs in depth.   

Summer/Winter Programs 

Faculty-led Study Abroad in Summer/Winter are short 2-4 week group experiences led by CSUSM faculty focused on a specific topic and clearing a predetermined course for academic credits through Extended Learning. Due to the short-term nature of these programs, they are highly experiential in nature and allow for a glimpse of a new culture without the immersion of a longer-term program. Programs include field components such as walking tours, museum visits, and other cultural highlights to offer a perspective of life in the host country.   

The Business-related faculty-led study abroad programs (currently Travel Study Europe GBM 440C, Travel Study Latin America GBM 440B & Italy Operations Management 305) ensure that students gain practical and cultural insight into a variety of international businesses to deepen their understanding. Completing two of these faculty-led programs will satisfy the Global Business foreign residency requirement (Note that students have many options for faculty-led study abroad, but to clear foreign residency, at least one of their chosen programs must be a Faculty-Led program offered by CoBA).  Offered during optional terms at CSUSM (winter & summer), these programs are not eligible for financial aid. 

To learn more about the summer/winter programs, visit the Faculty-Led Programs tab. Please note that students must attend an info session offered by their program’s faculty leader to apply. 

International Internship  

An international internship allows you to immerse yourself in a new culture and gain cultural awareness and adaptability, get work experience in your field, and form international friendships and professional connections. For internships abroad, students should recognize that these are “paid-for” experiences, and the university requires the use of pre-approved partners.   

Requirements and Credit  

To meet the requirement students must: 

• Intern for a total of 192 hours (normally 6 weeks with a 30-hour work week) 
• Earn credit for the internship (they can do so by enrolling in CSUSM’s GBM 495 course, in which 12 hours of the internship will be done working on a report of the experience or getting credit through the partner offering the internship opportunity).  

These are the university's pre-approved internship providers: 

• The Intern Group (apply via the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) for a $200 discount) 

• AIFS 

• CEA/CAPA 

• Worldstrides 

Financial information 

In most cases, internships are less likely to be covered by financial aid unless aligned with a minimum of six units credit in Fall or Spring.  Summer internships are generally out-of-pocket experiences.  Please reach out to the Financial Aid Office for more information. 

Planning 

Given that we expect you to have completed your core business courses and have a broad understanding about business/management, we recommend doing the internship in the Summer of your junior or during your senior year (you can even do in the summer of your senior year and participate in Commencement in May, prior to doing the internship).  

Steps 

Internship abroad is an exciting, transformative experience, but it requires careful, continual planning and several months of advanced preparation.  These include: 

• Look at our partners’ websites for internship programs.  

• After researching internship program options, have some countries/programs in mind to discuss with the Global Business director.  Book appointments online here.
• Apply for the internship with the partner you chose at least 4 months prior to your anticipated start date. 

• Immediately after submitting your internship application with the partner, begin working through the application process in the CSUSM Abroad Portal. Select Internships Abroad (GBM Majors Only) and click “Apply Now”. Please be sure to log in using your CSUSM credentials. (This application helps the GBM director to ensure that you have all the documentation required by CSUSM to do an internship abroad.) 

• Important Consideration at time of Application: Decide if you want to earn credit using your internship program or through CSUSM. Research the cost of earning credit through the provider vs. registering in GBM 495 through CSUSM to help make your decision. 

• In the meantime, ensure travel documents are up to date.  New passport holders have a 4-6 week standard processing timeline, so plan accordingly. 

• Once you are accepted by the partner, CoBA will “Accept” you in the CSUSM Abroad Portal. From there, you will be asked to upload your offer letter and complete additional forms. All forms must be completed at least 3 weeks prior to departure.  

• Final Reminder: If you decide to earn credit through your internship program, be sure to follow the steps they require to earn credit for the internship. If you decide to earn credit through CSUSM, you need to enroll in GBM 495, see below. 

GBM 495 

To earn credit for your internship, one option is to enroll in GBM 495. To do so, after you have your letter of acceptance (including the company you are going to work for), fill out the GBM form and send the form with the letter of acceptance to the GB director’s email. They will send that to academic advising to enroll you in GBM 495 (note: you cannot directly enroll in GBM 495). The deadlines for sending the form for each semester are below.