Academic Outcomes

• URSA fulfills UMD's Advanced Writing requirement

• URSA fulfills UMD's Global Perspectives Liberal Education requirement 

• URSA fulfills 10 credits at the 4XXX level - some of these might count toward your major

• URSA leaves you with a research/capstone project - this can count for University Honors, department honors, or other programs that require you to do research 

Set Apart

• Competitive positioning for national and international academic research awards (e.g., Fulbright scholarship)

• Many URSA alumni present or publish their research upon completion 

• Several alumni use their URSA project for a competitive edge in their applications to grad school or in job interviews

Personal/Professional Outcomes

• A network that matters. You’ll leave URSA with deep connections to a family of extremely successful URSA alumni, multiple faculty mentors, your Moroccan host family and peer mentor, as well as many other lifelong friends you will make along the way. 

• An eye-catching resume. Very few undergraduates do independent research, fewer do so abroad, and even fewer do so in a country as beautiful and unique as Morocco. URSA students regularly recount that in job interviews, URSA is all their interviewers want to talk about. 

• Personal transformation and growth. URSA alumni are transformed by a cultural experience that is challenging, of course, but also rewarding and fun. 

• Empowerment. URSA students regularly leave URSA feeling they can accomplish anything. The personal autonomy of URSA is empowering. If you want to open up an entire world of possibilities, URSA will take you there.

• Individual attention. URSA leaders get to know their students so well during the spring course, they know what the students need in-country and curate individual learning & growth experiences for each student.