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Independent Study Abroad
What is Independent Study Abroad?
Some students choose to undertake a semester or year-long program outside of the traditional International Exchange Program, and select a host institution that is not one of Swinburne’s Exchange partners. This is known as independent study abroad.
Independent study abroad is similar to Exchange, however there are some key differences:
- Students choose their host institution independently
- Students develop their own application and are responsible for their admissions into their chosen host institution
- Students must formally defer their Swinburne studies during the time they are studying abroad independently
- Students pay any tuiton fees directly to their chosen host institution
- Students must make arrangements for exemptions for studies undertaken abroad directly with their faculty
A Step-By-Step Guide to Independent Study Abroad
Below is a rough guide to organising independent study abroad.
Please note that all students' cases are individual, and therefore students should seek specific advice about their case from their faculty and from Swinburne Abroad.
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Research your options, and consider seeking advice from Swinburne Abroad and your faculty.
If you approach Swinburne Abroad, we will review whether you could achieve what you want on the Exchange program or any other Swinburne program, and you may be directed to these programs as alternatives.
You can utilise the resources in the Swinburne Abroad Reference Library for researching overseas programs, general process advice for approaching faculties about exemption approvals and country-specific advice that we can provide. -
Choose a non-Exchange partner institution and research the academic study plan that you believe would get you credit.
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Approach your faculty to determine if you can negotiate pre-approved credit (this will be based on each faculty’s procedure in place for independent study abroad pre-approvals). Some students negotiate retrospective approval after their studies abroad. Other students may also decide at this point to undertake the independent study abroad as not-for-credit studies.
- Apply for a Leave Of Absence, if your time abroad will be during the semester period. This means you will not be enrolled at Swinburne during your time abroad. If you are attending a summer/winter term that does not overlap with a Swinburne semester or term that you are enrolled in, you usually do not need to make any changes to your enrolment.
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Inform Swinburne Abroad of your intentions to undertake independent study abroad, so information on this can be maintained in your student record.
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Upon your return to Swinburne after your Leave Of Absence (or after a summer/winter term where no LOA was necessary) you can apply for exemptions to be credited to your Swinburne program, based on your independent study abroad academic results. This process depends on the individual faculty’s procedure for exemptions.
Resources
You might find these resources useful if you'd like to discover more about independent study abroad opportunities:
