Most universities offer study abroad. A small number refuse to let you graduate without it.
That changes everything about how it works. The university has to build the time abroad into the curriculum, keep it inside normal tuition, and get every student on a plane, including the ones on full financial aid. We checked the written degree requirements of more than 30 universities that claim to do this. These ten hold up, taught in English and open to applicants from anywhere. One famous name did not: Goucher College, often called the first US college to require study abroad, exempts international students who finished high school outside the US, on the grounds that they are already abroad.
1. Minerva University: the whole degree moves, four years, four continents
Minerva has no campus to be away from. Its undergraduate program runs as a rotation: year one in San Francisco, year two in Tokyo, then years three and four in Buenos Aires and a European city, currently Berlin, with Minerva noting that locations can change as it evaluates conditions. Hyderabad rejoined the rotation in February 2026. Classes are small seminars, so the city, rather than a lecture hall, is where the rest of the learning happens. Minerva's own line is that this is not study abroad; the city is the classroom.
Borderless has sixteen Minerva stories. Tigran from Armenia chose it after 23 rejections elsewhere, and Makhabbat applied to more than 80 universities before landing there and was heading to Tokyo for year two at the time of writing.
Tuition for 2027-28 is $31,300, with a residential fee of $19,900 and a total estimated cost of $59,600 before travel between cities and visas. Need-based aid is open to students of any citizenship, though Minerva says it does not offer full-ride packages. Apply through Minerva's own application or the Common App: Early Action November 1, Regular Decision I January 5, Regular Decision II March 2.
2. New York University: J-Terms across 16 sites, and a study away rule at every campus
NYU is one university on three degree-granting campuses, New York, Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, plus academic centers in Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Tulsa and Washington DC. The thread that runs through all of it is the January Term: three-week intensive courses in January that carry a full semester's worth of credit, many of them taught entirely at a global site, from Tisch's programs in Los Angeles, Havana and Paris to Steinhardt's in London, Cuba and Uganda.
Each campus writes the rule differently. At NYU Abu Dhabi, every undergraduate must complete two field-colloquium J-Term courses, one of them in the first year, and NYUAD describes them as immersive experiences in the UAE and abroad; on top of that, students may spend up to two semesters away at other NYU sites. At NYU Shanghai, every student is required to complete at least one semester of study away, and may take two, with the final semester back in Shanghai and two diplomas at the end. In New York, the Global Liberal Studies BA sends every student abroad for the whole junior year at one of nine NYU sites, with a semester-long internship built in.
Borderless has 40 NYU Abu Dhabi stories and six from NYU Shanghai. Ania from Poland went to NYUAD on a full ride, and Tomiris from Kazakhstan wrote about Business and Finance at NYU Shanghai on a scholarship.
Tuition for 2026-27 is $68,576 in New York and Shanghai and $68,574 in Abu Dhabi, where financial aid is entirely need-based and open to every applicant regardless of citizenship; NYU Shanghai invites every student to apply for aid as well. Fall and spring study away at NYU Shanghai is covered by regular tuition. All three campuses take the Common App: Early Decision I November 1, Early Decision II January 1, Regular Decision January 5.
3. Sciences Po: the entire third year abroad
Sciences Po's three-year bachelor's is taught across seven campuses in France, each with a regional focus, and every student spends the third year abroad. You either take two semesters at one of hundreds of partner universities, or a mixed year of one semester of study plus one semester of full-time internship overseas. At least one semester at a partner university is compulsory either way. The English-taught tracks are on the Le Havre, Reims and Menton campuses. Alexia from Brașov and Ioana from Bucharest both wrote about getting in.
Tuition is €14,900 a year for students whose household is taxed outside the EEA, and the Émile Boutmy scholarship for non-EU applicants covers full tuition or €9,500 of it. You apply on Sciences Po's own portal with a €150 fee; for the 2027 intake, apply by January 13, 2027 for a decision in April, or by March 1, 2027 for a decision in May.
4. Soka University of America: one semester in the country of your language
Soka is a small liberal arts college in Aliso Viejo, California, where every student studies abroad for a semester in junior year, and the destination is tied to the language you study. Choose Chinese, French, Japanese or Spanish, reach the intermediate level, and you go to a country where that language is spoken, across 11 countries in Soka's program network. The semester is included in tuition, with no program fee and no separate application, and housing and academics are coordinated by the university. Every undergraduate also lives on campus for all four years.
Direct costs for 2026-27 are $38,486 in tuition plus $16,000 for room and board. Soka's Global Merit Scholarship covers the full cost of attendance, every admitted student is considered automatically, and there is a separate need-based aid application for international students due March 2. Apply through the Common App or Soka's own application, $30 fee: Early Action November 1, Regular Decision January 15.
5. Akita International University: a full year abroad, written into the diploma
Akita International University is a public university in northern Japan where every class is taught in English and the diploma policy states that "a mandatory one-year study abroad experience is also a graduation requirement." Students leave between the winter of year two and the fall of year three for one of 208 partner universities in 52 countries, and while they are away they keep paying Akita's tuition and are exempt from the host university's fees, with a few exceptions.
At Japanese public-university prices, it is the cheapest entry on this list by a wide margin. Akita's fee page lists tuition of 896,000 yen a year, about $6,000, plus a one-time matriculation fee of 423,000 yen and a residence hall charge of about 622,900 yen that covers housing, most meals and utilities. First-year students live in the dorms. International applicants are admitted through a document-screening exam with two entry points, April and September; for 2026 entry the windows were October 1 to 17 and January 13 to 27, and the 2027 dates had not been published when we checked.
6. Forward College: three years, three capitals, one degree
Forward College is a young European college whose bachelor's is impossible to complete in one country: year one in Lisbon, year two in Paris, year three in Berlin, in the college's own residences, with classes of about 15 and weekly one-to-one tutoring. The degrees are awarded by the University of London under the academic direction of LSE or King's College London, or by Forward College itself for its Open Bachelor's, PPE and PPLE programs. About 280 students are enrolled across the three years.
Tuition for 2026-27 is €25,100 a year for students from outside the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland, rising 5 percent a year, with need-based scholarships and zero-interest loans up to full tuition. You apply directly on the college's website; admissions are rolling from October to July, and the college advises applying by March 31.
7. World Bachelor in Business: Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Milan, then your pick
The World Bachelor in Business is run jointly by USC Marshall, HKUST and Bocconi, with one admissions committee across all three. Year one is in Los Angeles, year two in Hong Kong, year three in Milan, and year four at whichever of the three you choose. You graduate with three bachelor's degrees. About 50 students are admitted each year.
You pay the tuition of the university you are living at, which for the fall 2025 reference year meant about $73,260 at USC, HKD 250,000 to 260,000 at HKUST and €25,000 at Bocconi, plus housing. Merit scholarships of half or a quarter of tuition are renewable and considered automatically. Apply through the Common App via USC or HKUST, with a November 1 deadline for fall entry; tests are optional for fall 2027.
8. ESCP Business School: three years in three countries
ESCP's Bachelor in Management is a three-year BSc where you spend each year on a different ESCP campus, chosen from Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris and Turin, with the program taught in English and local language courses built in. Students come from more than 80 nationalities, and ESCP reports that 98 percent are placed within a few months of graduating.
Tuition for the 2027 intake is €26,800 a year for non-EU students, made up of €23,900 in tuition and €2,900 in services, with merit and need scholarships of 10 to 50 percent of tuition. There is no extra charge for the campus moves; each year is simply a campus year. You can apply directly, through the Common App, through UCAS, or through Parcoursup, on a rolling basis.
9. St Andrews and William & Mary: two years in Scotland, two in Virginia
The St Andrews William & Mary Joint Degree Programme gives you two years at each university and one diploma, the BA (International Honours), carrying both insignia. You spend year one at the institution you applied through, year two at the other, year three at your choice, and year four at the remaining one, in one of six majors: Classical Studies, Economics, English, Film Studies, History and International Relations. William & Mary aims for five students per major per year, and the program is open to applicants of any nationality.
You pay your home institution's tuition for all four years: $48,400 at William & Mary for 2026-27, or £33,250 at St Andrews. Apply to one side only. Through St Andrews it is a direct application or the Common App, not UCAS, with a deadline of May 1, 2027 for September 2027 entry; through William & Mary it is the Common App with a supplemental essay, with decisions in April and no early decision round.
10. LIU Global: eight countries, one final semester in New York
Long Island University's LIU Global is a BA in Global Studies that runs almost the whole degree outside the United States. Year one is at the university's own center in Costa Rica, year two in Europe, year three across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, and year four is split between international field research and an internship, then a final semester in New York City. The university counts it as living and learning in at least eight countries.
Tuition is $42,432 a year plus a $2,034 university fee and a $4,500 center fee, with room and board of $17,846; LIU says it covers all program-related travel within each semester, and students pay their own airfare to and from each program. Renewable merit scholarships are available, and international applicants are accepted with TOEFL 75, IELTS 6.0 or Duolingo 100. Apply through LIU's own application; deadlines are not published.
More programs with a mandatory year or semester abroad
The French business schools have made a compulsory period abroad standard in their English-taught bachelor's. ESSEC's Global BBA requires an exchange of at least six months at one of 189 partner universities (€17,500 a year at Cergy). KEDGE's International BBA requires a minimum of two years abroad (€11,200 a year). SKEMA's Global BBA sends everyone to one of its own campuses in the US, Brazil, China or the UAE for a semester in year three. EDHEC's International BBA and NEOMA's Global BBA both require at least a semester away in year three.
One more named program at a big university carries the same rule. Warwick's BSc International Management puts the entire third year abroad, as study, a work placement or both, at an overseas fee of £35,530 for 2026-27, applied for through UCAS by January 13, 2027.
Start your own journey
A degree that moves you between countries also moves your paperwork: two or three visa applications instead of one, different cost-of-living budgets for each city, and application deadlines that land as early as November.
Kai, the Borderless AI college counselor, keeps that straight for you. Tell Kai your budget, your grades and where you want to live, and it builds a college list that puts these programs next to your other options, turns every deadline above into a task, and works through each application and essay with you. It is free to use.
Start with Kai, and read the stories from students who did it.
