It is important to start early - students need to begin planning for a semester or academic year program the fall semester prior to the year they wish to study away. 

The Office of International Programs website provides students with an outline of the study away process that will help them get started planning their study away experience.  

Students should talk to their academic advisor and, if different, a faculty member in their major department about their study away plans early in the process (the academic year prior to their study away program). 

Doing this will help ensure that students’ study away experience is integrated into their undergraduate academic program at Trinity. Students should consider how their program choice will enhance their studies and not select a program simply by location. 

Many programs, including the Trinity-administered Global Learning Sites and the Rome Campus, offer internships, independent studies, and community service opportunities. It is important to look at the disciplines of study available, the courses offered, the structure of the program, the level of on-site support, and included educational excursions and activities when selecting a program. 

While experiencing a different culture is inherently valuable, studying in another country is not necessarily worthy of college academic credit. Trinity students who wish to receive credit for their study away program must choose a study away program that is approved by Trinity College (Please see Trinity's List of Approved Programs) and apply for approval to study away through the Office of International Programs by the appropriate deadlines.

Trinity students may apply to two (2) approved programs per study away term. The OIP requires students to select one program and one alternate as back-up. When students meet program prerequisites and apply prior to application deadlines, they are usually accepted by their first-choice program.

As a small college that sends over half of its students to study away, Trinity is strongly affected by fluctuations in study away enrollments and must adhere to a policy that equalizes the numbers of students studying away in fall and spring. Although there is not a maximum number of Trinity students allowed to study away each year, there are a set number of places for each semester that is determined by the total number of students who apply to study away each year.

Although an increasing number of Trinity students study away for a full year (on one or two separate programs), most choose to study away for one semester. Although students are asked in their Request for Approval to Study Away to choose a preferred study away semester, they are not guaranteed their choice. It is important that students applying to study away be as flexible as possible and be open, wherever possible, to studying away either in fall or spring.

Please note that only in exceptional circumstances will late applications by accepted or subsequent changes of study away term be permitted.