Skip to content

Environmental Studies Education Abroad Guide

Costa Rica landscape of mountains and flowers
CU Boulder Education Abroad offers over 400 programs in over 60 countries! You can go abroad for a semester, year, and/or 2-12 weeks in the summer. Going abroad is strongly encouraged by the Environmental Studies department. Use the following information as a general guideline to plan your time abroad, and connect with your academic advisor as well. Work with Education Abroad advisors to get more details on how to get started, discuss your program options, and next steps. 

Quick Facts

  • ENVS majors are encouraged to go abroad for at least one semester!
  • Junior year is the most common year to go abroad
  • ENVS students often choose research and seminar-type programs, or university settings
  • The most common degree requirements taken abroad are upper-division Specialization courses, certain A&S Gen Ed courses, and general elective hours
  • Use the Course Approvals List to find programs that offer courses approved for the credit you need

Planning and When to Go

  • First-year: Start planning for education abroad! Consider saving your Specialization courses if possible (or at least save some of them).
  • Sophomore: Keep making progress with your required lower-division ENVS courses. Continue saving your Specialization courses if possible. Education abroad during sophomore year is less common, but absolutely possible.
  • Junior: Go abroad! Going abroad during your junior year allows you plenty of variety in your choices of classes.
  • Senior: Work closely with your advisor to ensure that you can get all of your requirements completed.
    Be sure that you know when the credits may be transcripted, as this can delay your official graduation date.

What Kind of Credit Can You Earn Abroad?

Usually Doable Tricky Probably Not
General Electives  A&S Gen Ed ENVS A&S Gen Ed ENVS A&S Gen Ed ENVS
Overall credit hours  Arts and Humanities, Natural Science (Non-Lab), Social Sciences Upper-division Specialization courses, Application course
 		 Global Diversity Intermediate Natural Science course, Intermediate Social Science course, ENVS/PHIL 3140, PSCI 2116
 		 Natural Science (Lab), Written Communication ENVS 3020, Cornerstone, Capstone
 

Suggested Programs

Use these links to find programs that may be a good match for you and your course needs.
   

Additional Resources

Last Updated June 2024