Student exchange program

• Who can go on exchange?
• Where can I study?
• How long can I go for?
• How is credit decided?
• What finance is available?
• How to apply
• Before you go overseas....
• Other overseas study opportunities

Any Sydney University student can apply to be accepted onto the exchange program to study overseas and have that study counted towards a Sydney University degree.

The conditions are:

• students have attained at least a credit average in their studies;
• students are enrolled as a full-time student at Sydney. This means that you need to convince department/s to accept that the study you will do overseas is equivalent to units you would study at Sydney. Often you will be enrolled in 'Exchange' or 'In-country' units of study;
• students are prepared to go to one of the University's exchange partners.

Exchange institutions particularly relevant to students studying Italian are:

• Università di Bari
• Università di Bologna
• Università di Ferrara
• Università di Firenze
• Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan (La Cattolica)
• Università di Napoli L’Orientale
• Università di Pavia
• Università di Pisa
• Università di Torino
• Università di Udine
• Università di Verona

We hope to have other agreements in place shortly, notably with Lecce, Palermo, Genova, the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, and the Sapienza in Rome.

Information about our exchange partners can be obtained from the International Office, from the Department, or from the foreign university websites.

The International Office also holds written accounts of students who have studied overseas.

Students will normally follow substantially the same courses as native students, therefore the level of Italian required is advanced. Sometimes the foreign university offers extra language tuition before their year starts, in September, or during the semester.

Students can go for one semester or one year. Remember that in most countries the academic year starts in October, and the first semester runs until the end of January. It is often preferable (but not essential) for students to start their overseas studies in October in order to take advantage of introductory courses etc.

Credit is decided on a case-by-case basis and depends on the number of hours a week of study, the assessment tasks and the level of the course, the fraction of a full-time load for local students. The normal full time load in Italy is 30 'crediti' per semester.

Students need to complete the relevant form available from the International Office and include the details of the courses they will be enrolled in at Sydney, and which courses they will study overseas. The form must be signed by the Study Abroad Coordinator and returned to the International Office with the initial application.

• International scholarships
• ACIS
• Italian Government
• Scholarships of $2000 are available through the International Office
• A few Italian universities, such as the University of Genova, have their own scholarship scheme for students born in their region.

Details of these schemes are available from the International Office along with a very useful booklet listing all institutions with which Sydney University has exchange agreements as well as closing dates for applications etc.

Please note that scholarships do not cover the full costs of studying abroad, which can total $10,000 a semester depending on the country chosen.

BA (Languages) students

BA (Languages) students have specific financial arrangements and must complete the correct documentation. Information and forms are available from the BA (Languages) website.

For more information and application details contact the International Office.

Please note that students need to apply a long time in advance as places are competitive. Students on in-country language scholarships are given priority.

Students must leave full details of their plan of study, dates of absence etc with the Department. It is essential to keep in touch while overseas, preferably through email. Students who fail to keep us informed of their studies risk being given a fail result at the end of semester.

Please check with the International Office for the procedures for approval.

The Italian Institute of Culture maintains a file of private language schools and the scholarships and part-scholarships that they offer. If you are interested in attending one of these schools, we suggest that you decide where you want to go then do your own research on the Internet. A large number of partial scholaships to private language schools are advertised on the Italian Cultural Institute's website.

For more information on opportunities contact the Study Abroad Coordinator.