Guide for Education Abroad
Welcome to the
Smith Guide for Education Abroad!
Smith College first sent students abroad with the "Junior Year Abroad" program to Paris in 1925. We continue to be a leading liberal arts college in the support of education abroad.
Nearly 40% of Smith students study abroad for a semester or a year, in a variety of programs in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and English-speaking countries around the world. Education abroad provides a new perspective on your own country; it also provides you with a new view of yourself - of your capacity to adapt, to grow, to be open to new experiences - and perhaps also of your own limitations, which you may want to learn to transcend. Inevitably, it changes your life.
Explore the Approved Program List, learn about the application process, and check the eligibility requirements. Discover how to select a program appropriate for your academic and personal interests and how to pay for your education abroad program.
Students who may not be able to travel internationally are encouraged to explore our newly added options such as the Williams-Mystic Ocean Studies program, Border Studies Program in Arizona, or the Integrated Studies Program in Puerto Rico. There are also domestic study-away programs at destinations throughout the United States offered through other departments.
Important Dates
Gathering Information
September-November of the Academic Year Before Going Abroad
General Information Meetings for Education Abroad
Lewis Global Studies Center Conference Room
By appointment
Education Abroad Advising Sessions
Find a staff member to book an appointment here.
Application Deadlines
October 2, 2023
Select Spring 2024 programs:
AKP, PRESHCO, and Smith in Hamburg
February 5, 2024
2024-2025 Smith Programs Abroad applications for:
Smith in Florence, Geneva, Hamburg & Paris
February 19, 2024
Fall 2024, Academic Year 2024-2025, & Spring 2025
Education Abroad Credit Applications for Approved Programs
Our Goals
Promote education abroad opportunities that are in keeping with the educational aims of the college
Provide program options that offer outstanding academic content, instruction, language learning, and cultural immersion opportunities in the host countries
Ensure other first-rate education abroad opportunities that accommodate a range of disciplines and include diverse regions of the world
Integrate education abroad into the student's four-year study to the fullest extent possible
Committee on Study Abroad
Education Abroad programming is overseen by faculty on the Committee on Study Abroad, which is a sub-committee of the Committee on Academic Priorities as part of faculty governance for the Smith curriculum. The Committee on Study Abroad is responsible for the selection, review and approval of programs on the Education Abroad Approved Program List. The Office for International Study is charged with the support and oversight of student participation on these programs.