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CSU IP and SF State Bilateral Program Comparisons

San Francisco State University offers two types of Official Certified Study Abroad Programs:
CSU International Programs and SF State Bilateral Programs

What are the differences between CSU International Programs and SF State Bilateral Programs?

 

Both the SF State Bilateral Programs and the CSU International Programs are nearly identical in structure and quality. The main differences are:

1) CSU IP is open to the entire CSU system, while SF State Bilateral is only for SF State students

2) Many of the SF State Bilateral Programs offer a semester option in addition to a year-long program, whereas CSU IP is only for a year

3) Deadlines vary for the two programs:

CSU IP: December 15th for Fall start programs and May 1st for Spring start programs

SF State Bilateral: March 1st for Fall start programs and October 1st for Spring start programs

4) Upon acceptance into a program, CSUP IP in Long Beach administers the program for students, while for SF State Bilateral, the SF State Office of International Programs administers the program for students from beginning to end.

5) SF State Bilateral Programs require completion of 60 units or more before departure, which is true for most CSU IP programs, except for the 鈥淟earn Language Programs鈥 which only require 30 units (France, Aix-en-Provence; Germany, Tubingen; Mexico, Quetero; China, Beijing; Taiwan, Tapei).

BOTH CSU IP AND SF State BILATERAL PROGRAMS ARE OFFICIAL CERTIFIED SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS, AND THE ONLY OFFICIAL CERTIFIED PROGRAMS AT SF STATE THAT OFFER THE FOLLOWING BENEFITS:

1) Courses are guaranteed to count as SF State resident credit, meaning you will earning credit towards your major, minor, and/or Segment III GE requirements. The classes you take abroad will appear on your SF State transcript and with careful and thorough planning, you will not lose time towards your graduation.

2) You pay regular SF State tuition, your cost of living, your plane ticket and that's it! No extra fees. You are by all measures considered a continuing SF State student while you are abroad, paying regular CSU tuition that is subsidized by the State of California

3) Financial Aid applies to study abroad. In fact, study abroad students get the very first disbursement from the university! That is one way SF State shows its support for study abroad. Loans, grants, or scholarships you get will transfer to study abroad programs, and you will also qualify for scholarship not otherwise available to you at SF State just by becoming a study abroad student. Please visit the Scholarships and Financing page for more information.

4) Our Official Certified Programs cover just about all majors offered at SF State, meaning that essentially no matter what your course of study, you will be able to study abroad and earn credit towards your major. Not every major is offered in every country however, so please visit our list of Programs by Major for more information. If you don't see an exact match for your major, look for the closest thing.


What if I want to go to a location not offered on CSU IP or SF State Bilateral?

Since the SF State Certified Study Abroad Programs are academic in focus, we encourage to take an academic approach to your study abroad experience. That means taking advantage of the benefits these programs can give in offering resident credit in your major, minor, towards Segment III or other GE requirements. We strongly encourage you to be flexible in choosing a study abroad location that will accommodate your academic goals.

Additionally, the SF State Certified programs provided a unique and substantial cost benefit that you will not be able to find on outside programs. Generally, a 6 week summer program done on an outside program will cost about the same as a 5 month semester program on SF State Official certified programs! If in the end, you decide to go on an outside program, you can visit www.studyabroad.com for a comprehensive list of other study abroad programs-- or just browse and compare the costs of outside programs to what you will pay through SF State Certified Study Abroad programs.

What about Summer Programs?

Short Term Programs are offered through the College of Extended Learning at SF State and are:

-Intended to supplement studies on campus
-Intended as a supplement to the regular study abroad programs

For more information regarding these programs, please see the Study Abroad area of the College of Extended Learning Web site ( www.cel.sfsu.edu/studyabroad/ ), or contact Ms. Karen Maguire at kjmac@sfsu.edu or 415.405.3532.

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