Choosing A Program

The number of study abroad programs can seem overwhelming at first. So before we get started, think about why you want to study abroad. Your "why" should lay the foundation for choosing the best program. Ask yourself the following three questions:

• How do you hope to use the experience for the rest of your academic career? Do you hope to obtain courses towards your major, minor, electives, or more?
• What skills do you hope to gain while studying abroad for your professional career? Do you hope to gain critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, and more? Look into an internship, research, or service/shadowing abroad program for hands-on experience.
• What do you hope to get out of your study abroad, personally? Do you hope to travel to your heritage country or meet new people?

Keeping these questions in mind, here are 7 steps that will help you choose a program to meet your "why". 

1. Identify your goals

Think about what you want to get out of your study abroad experience. Having clear goals will make choosing a program easier and will help you get more out of the experience. Below are some questions to help you get started: 

• Academic:
  • What is your intended major or areas of emphasis?
  • Do you have another interest or a complementary subject area that you want to focus on? For example, an engineering student may want to take business courses.
  • Do you have a senior project, honors paper, or foreign language requirement? You could conduct research abroad or study a language intensively.
  • Do you want to concentrate on one subject or take a variety of courses? You should speak with your Academic Advisor about potential options and flexibilities.
  • Do you want a program in which you take university classes with local students, with other Americans, or only Texas Tech students?
  • Do you learn better in the classroom or in another setting with greater interaction and physical activity?
• Professional: 
  • How important is completing an internship in your chosen career field?
  • Do you have the language skills necessary to do an internship abroad?
  • What will strengthen your graduate school applications or make your résumé stand out?
• Personal:
  • Are you interested in a world region or a specific country?
  • Is there a current global issue (political, environmental, social, etc) that you want to explore?
  • Would you prefer to live in a major metropolitan area, in a small town, or rural area?
  • Are you looking for a program that will offer in-depth cultural immersion in a single location or a traveling program with multiple destinations?
  • Do you want to explore your cultural background and family heritage?
  • How do you want to change by studying abroad?
  • What experiences do you seek in becoming a more well-rounded person?
  • How much time do you want to spend abroad?
  • Do you want to study abroad more than once before you graduate?
  • Would you prefer to live with a host family, in a local residence hall, or an apartment?
  • Do you have any special needs such as medical condition, learning disability, mental health condition, or dietary restriction that may need accommodation?
  • You may have other ideas . . . include them all!

2. Identify Potential Challenges

Consider what barriers you must overcome in order to study abroad. Use the same kind of brainstorming technique to record the challenges. Identify the factors you will have to consider:

• Family - do they support your desire to study abroad?
• Financial constraints
• Job obligations
• Social, academic, or athletic commitments

How might these factors impact the type and duration of study abroad program you ultimately select? The aim of this exercise is to list the real challenges along with your goals.

3. Set your priorities!

• Rank the factors that are most important to you.
  • You may place the number 1 beside a geographic location that is extremely important to you, and then the number 2 next to money if affordability is a major factor. You are not making final life decisions here, simply outlining your priorities.
• Consider rewriting your list by combining both sets of factors (goals and challenges) in order of importance.
• Or compose goal statements, which combine the most important factors.
  • For example: "I want to identify a semester-long, affordable study abroad program taught in French that will allow me to complete credits toward my psychology major and do an internship or research."

4. Figure out in which term you'd like to study abroad.

• Check out our dates and deadlines page to see what works for you. 

5. Review our program types 

• Affiliate Programs
  • Study Abroad
    • Terms - Summer or Semester
    • Direct enroll at international universities with additional support
    • Bill directly to the student
    • Extra scholarships
    • Study with other Americans and International students
  • Internship
    • Terms - Summer or Semester
    • Intern at a company with support for housing, cultural experiences, academics, etc.
    • Bill directly to the student
    • Extra scholarships
    • Study with other Americans 
  • Research
    • Terms - Summer or Semester
    • Research in a lab or in the field
    • Bill directly to the student
    • Extra scholarships
    • Study with other Americans
  • Shadowing / Service Learning
    • Terms - Summer only
    • Shadow at local clinic or hospital
    • No academic credit
    • Study with other Americans
• Reciprocal Exchange
  • Terms - Semester only
  • Exchange student
  • Pay TTU tuition
  • Study with other international students
• Faculty-Led Programs
  • Terms - Summer or Semester
  • Led by TTU Professor
    • Includes TTU Costa Rica
  • Pay TTU tuition
  • Study with other Texas Tech students 

6. Explore all of our programs on the Discovery Page

Take note of the following information for your programs of interest:

• Provider Website Links - only for affiliate, reciprocal, internship, research, and shadowing programs

  • Find course offerings available at each program as well as the Texas Tech equivalencies

  • These links are normally found in the "Program Overview" tab

• Dates & Locations

• Estimated Costs

• Scholarship Information

As you see programs of interest, look for the heart icon to add them to your favorites. This will make comparing options easier as you continue.

7. Apply! Once you've chosen your program, start your application.

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Need more help identifying a program or getting started on your application?

• Rawls College of Business Students: 
  • You must get started with the Rawls Center for Global Engagement 
  • Attend a First Step Session - Required for all business students 
• Whitacre College of Engineering Students:
  • You must work with the Global Experiences for Undergraduates Office 
  • Meet with an Engineering Diplomat to help you research programs 
• All students:
  • Attend one of our information sessions! 
  • These are held weekly during the times below. Please be sure to log in or arrive at least 5 minutes early. 

 Sessions:

• • Tuesdays - 3 pm via zoom (click here to register)
  • Wednesdays - 4 pm in person
    • International Cultural Center, 601 Indiana
      • South Visitor Entrance
      • Check in at Office of International Affairs front desk
  • Fridays - 10 am via zoom (click here to register)