Studies abroad for USBE students

Why study abroad?

There is an endless amount of good reasons why studies abroad is a great thing for you, but just in case you can't think of any, we have listed some points:

• Experience another culture; How is life from a different point of view?
  
  
• Employability; International experiences are good for your CV, many employers appreciate it a lot
  
  
• Travel, change of environment; Who wouldn't want that?
  
  
• New contacts; building an international network might bring great opportunities in the future
  
  
• Broaden your education; Complement your studies with courses you cannot take in Umeå
  
  
• Personal development; new experiences can give you an opportunity for personal growth
  
  
• Learn a new language; learning a language at the local setting will bring a new dimension to learning!

Where can you go?

As a student at USBE you can chose to study abroad in three ways:

Study abroad within a USBE agreement

We recommend that you first consider USBEs agreements:

USBE Partner Universities

To see USBE agreements select Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics as Your home unit.

Other possibilities in the Nordics

If you are specifically interested in studies in the Nordics, USBE is part of the NOREK, Nordplus network for Business Schools. Contact us if you are interested in a university/school which is not on the list of our partner universities.

Study abroad within a Umeå University agreement

All students at Umeå University can apply to central agreements while faculty agreements are for students belonging to a certain faculty. I.e. if you are a business student then you can apply for exchange studies via the agreements offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences. Read more at Umeå Universities web pages about exchange studies.

Free mover – studies outside of institutional agreements

If you wish to arrange for your study place abroad yourself (i. e. not within the framework of our exchange programs), that is also a possibility. Going abroad as a free mover means that you have more responsibilities as a student. You contact the institution(s) of your interest yourself and apply as a regular student. Often, you also have to pay tuition.

Please note! Although you arrange for the study abroad period by yourself as a free mover, you are obliged to contact your study advisor (if you study a program) with an application for approved leave of absence. If you do not have an approved leave of absence, you will lose your seat at the program. You also need to contact the USBE International Coordinator to receive information about course choice and credit transfer. As a free mover, you are entitled to use studyabroad.hh.umu.se to apply for "pre-recommended transfer of credits" after you have been admitted to the host university and it is time for you to decide on which courses to take.

Organise studies abroad on your own

Planning your application

Eligibility requirements

To study abroad within a USBE agreement you must meet the following criteria:

• Registered on a course/program at USBE
  
  
• Study full time at the time of your application. (Some exceptions can be made regarding leave of absence.)
  
  
• Have accomplished your studies at a normal study pace and completed your previous studies. Non-completed studies cannot exceed 22.5 credits at the time of application.
  
  
• Not admitted for central agreements.
  
  
• The exchange studies must be transferrable within your UmU degree.
  
  
• Have completed and passed a minimum of a full year of studies (60 HP) at the time of departure.
  • If you intend to study Business Administration abroad you must have completed 60 Credits in Business Administration.
  • If you intend to study Economics abroad you must have completed 30 Credits in Economics.
  • If you intend to study at advanced level you must have completed 30 Credits at advanced level.

If you don't fulfill the eligibility

Since USBEs exchange agreements are specifically designed for our business students (according to the eligibility above) the agreements are generally not open for students from other subject areas. We often have vacant exchange seats which gives us the possibility to offer students from other institutions to apply.

If you wish to apply through USBEs exchange agreements, and you have studied business subjects to some extent, but you don't fulfill the eligibility for the subject area then you may apply according to the below:

• There are seats available after admission of eligible students, and
  
  
• USBEs partner university accepts the nomination of a student that does not fulfill the eligibility for the subject area.

The application procedure differs from the regular application procedure. When vacant seats are available they will be announced on our web page.

When can you go?

The following semesters are best suited for studies abroad:

• International Business Programme: See overview
  
  
• Statistics Programme: 4th semester
  
  
• All Master's Programme in Business Administration: 3rd semester
  
  
• Master's Programme in Economics: 3rd semester

Choose destination

Things to consider when choosing your exchange destination:

• Level of studies offered. Will you study on Bachelor's or Master's level?
  
  
• Language of instruction of the university.
  
  
• Courses available for exchange students.
  • The exchange studies must be transferrable within your Umeå University degree.
    
    
• Semester and exam schedules.
  • Will they overlap with your studies in Umeå?
    
    
• Available scholarships?
  
  
• Consider other nominated students' experiences. Study reports and contact details to previous and current exchange students can be found here.
  
  

How should I prioritize my destination alternatives

You should prioritize your alternatives exactly in the order you find best. There is no "strategic" way to apply, other than having many alternatives. If you add as many destinations as you can think of going to (max. 6), your chances of being nominated to one of them are good. Those students that are eligible for exchange studies but in the end are not nominated have usually applied to only one or two destinations and there are many other students in competing against them.

Application Statistics

Application Statistics 2020

Application Statistics 2021

Application Statistics 2022

Application Statistics 2023

Scholarships

Information about scholarships can be found on the web page Practical information.

Making the application

Apply

Application for exchange studies through USBE’s agreements is made in SoleMove.

Application instructions for outgoing exchange.

To consider while doing your application:

• One application per student.
  
  
• In order to apply for USBE’s agreements you need to choose “Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics” when selecting “Unit responsible for the nomination round”.
  
  • If you choose another department, your application will not be processed by us.
    
    
• You can apply up to 6 exchange options.
  • In your application you will choose the universities you are interested in going during your exchange and rank them in the order of your first choice (priority 1) to your last choice. Consider the order carefully, since the lower ranked alternatives will be cancelled if you are allocated your first choice (priority 1). We recommend applying for multiple alternatives in order to up your chances. The maximum amount of alternatives to apply for is 6.

Make sure you include all attachments:

• Letter of motivation
  Motivate the reasons to why you are applying for exchange studies (max. 1 page!). A picture is a good addition. Please indicate what type/level of courses you are aiming to take during your exchange: Business Administration (+level), Economics and/or elective courses. Do not underestimate the importance of a well written letter!
  
  
• CV
  
  
• Passport copy
  
  
• Optional:
  Any certificates or documents that you find relevant. It can be language course certificates (if you apply for an exchange where English is not the language of instruction) or other proofs of your language abilities. It can also be a certificate confirming you participation in any activities besides your regular studies, such as taking active part in a student association (e.g. HHUS), being a mentor, part-time work etc.

Selection Criteria

• Study results: normal study pace and grades
  
  
• Letter of motivation
  
  
• CV
  
  
• Extracurricular activities during your university studies (e.g HHUS, student representative, buddy programme and so on).
  
  
• Lower priority is given to the applicants who apply for exchange studies for semesters they are not recommended to go abroad according to the program specific recommendations.
  
  
• The students who have already been abroad via USBE's agreements will have lower priority if there is competition occurs for the applied destination. Other experiences abroad, for example exchange studies during high school, language trips etc. are considered as a merit. USBE has a broad range of exchange seats so it is usually not a problem to go abroad during both bachelor and master's studies.
  
  
• NORDPLUS: Studies on master's level are prioritized over bachelor level studies when it comes to Nordplus applicants. Swedish citizens are prioritized over Finnish citizens when it comes to applying to Finland.

Deadline

Your application must be submitted in SoleMove by March 1 at the latest, including all attachments.

After applying

After submitting the application the following happens:

1. The application is processed and you will probably be offered a seat.
   
   
2. You accept or decline the offer
   
   • Once you have accepted the seat you are our nominated student for the exchange.
   • The partner university will contact you within a couple of weeks, usually by e-mail.
     
     
3. When contact is established, it is your responsibility to send in the required documents in time, before the deadline of the partner university.
   • Deadline and required documents can differ between universities, your contact person at the partner university will fill you in on the details.
     
     
4. You're accepted "officially" only after receiving a confirmation from the partner university. There is no reason for you to worry about not being accepted, it is very rare. Our nomination means that we find you eligible and so will they.

Choosing courses

When: When to choose courses differs from university to university, some wishes you to choose courses at the time of application while others ask that you do it upon arrival. You will be informed about this in time.

Important:

• It's important to have a backup plan in case something unexpected occurs and you're not able to go abroad, therefore make sure to apply for courses at Umeå University as usual!
  
  
• How many credits at the partner university you need to acquire for it to be equivalent of 30 Credits at Umeå university varies, please consider:
  • If you intend to study in Europe you must study 30 ECTS credits (ECTS=hp)
  • If you intend to study in a non-European country within a USBE agreement you find the information on our partner university list in the column "Number of credits equivalent to 30 hp".
  • I f you intend to study in a non-European country within a Umeå University agreement you will find information on the Umeå University web pages about studies abroad.
    
    
• If you intend to study elective courses, please consider:
  • Courses with content equivalent to courses you've read before are not transferable.
  • Transfer of credit is not possible for some practically oriented courses.
  • Not all courses at partner universities are on the same level as Swedish university courses and are therefore not transferable. A common example is 100 level courses in USA (basic language courses are often an exception).
    
    
• If you intend to study at D level abroad and then wish to have a degree with a specialization in a certain filed, please consider:
  • It's often very difficult and not something we recommend!
  • You must have all 30 Credits in the same field, which usually is difficult to find.

Make an application for "pre-recommended transfer of credits"

Make an application in USBE’s web for pre-recommended transfer of credits (site only available in Swedish) for courses you are planning to study while on exchange. The pre-recommendation is offered to all USBE students who wish to transfer their courses within the subject area of business administration, economics, statistics or elective courses.

Lägg till förfrågan = Make you application
Universitet = University
Kurstitel = Course title
Eventuell kurskod = Course code
Lokala poäng = Local credits at the host university
Kursbeskrivning = Course description (you can also include a link to the course description)
Önskas tillgodoräknas som = How you wish to transfer the credits
Företagsekonomi = Business Administration
Nationalekonomi = Economics
Statistik = Statistics
Valfri kurs = Electives

Applying for "pre-recommended transfer of credits" has several benefits:

• You can feel safe that the courses you have chosen are transferable to your Umu degree.
• You will have the chance to change your courses if the courses you initially took cannot be transferred as the needed level.
• You can apply for the recommendation for more courses than you will actually study. If there are cancellations or schedule overlaps, it is good to have added several courses for our evaluation.
• You can update your application for the pre-recommended courses and add courses throughout the semester.
• It will be simpler for all parties when the final transfer of credits is done: You don't have to send in the course descriptions again for the courses you have applied for pre-recommendation and the process of transferring the credits will be quicker.
• Please note that the pre-recommendation that we give is not binding and therefore it is not a decision of actual transfer. The decision of transfer of credits will be taken by the Degree evaluation office of Umeå University based on the completed studies and sent application (separate from the pre-recommendation in studyabroad.hh.umu.se). Our recommendation in studyabroad.hh.umu.se can be seen as a strong indication on how the courses you have applied can be transferred and the decision the Degree evaluation office makes rarely differs from ours.

Closing points

• If required, fill in and get your "Learning Agreement" signed.
  
  • A "Learning agreement" is mandatory for all Erasmus students.
• Download nomination letter, certificate of English proficiency and insurance certificate from Solemove. You will find these in your application under the tab called “Enclosures”.
• Make practical arrangements

During your exchange semester

1. Get your certificate of attendance signed

If required, get your certificate of attendance signed (both after arriving and before departing).

2. Update your application if you change courses after arriving to your destination

If you change courses after arriving to your destination please remember to update your application for "pre-recommended transfer of credits" and add the new courses.

3. USBE ambassador!

We wish to follow you on your travels! Are you writing a blog? Let us know, we can post a link to it on our website. We are also happy to receive pictures that we can post on USBE's social media. Feel free to tag your pictures with #USBEstudentabroad.

If you are offered the opportunity to represent the business school at e.g. a Study Abroad Fair let us know. We can send material for you to use. We appreciate your participation in building USBE's public image greatly!

After coming back

Transfer of credits

After completing your semester and receiving your transcript of credits, it is important to do this right away because it can take the Degree Evaluation Office up to 60 days to handle your application.

You apply for transcript of records online and when you fill in the form keep the following in mind:

• If you have studied Business Administration or Economics you fill in the form (in step 3) in the following way:
  
  Question: "I want to transfer credits for"
  
  Answer: "Main field"
  
  Question: "Main field of study"
  
  Answer: "Business Administration or Economics"
  
  Question: "Educational level"
  
  Answer: Select "First cycle" if you have studied courses at B and/or C level, and "Second cycle" if you have studied at an advanced level.
  
  
• If you have studied elective courses you fill in the form (in step 3) in the following way:
  
  Question: "I want to transfer credits for"
  
  Answer: "Optional studies abroad"
  
  

If you have studied (and have got our recommendation in www.studyabroad.hh.umu.se) for example C-level studies abroad, it will not be a problem to admit you to D-level courses. Contact your program advisor/study advisor if you have any questions.

Apply for transfer of credits here

Write your study report

If you have studied abroad within a USBE agreement we ask you to write a study report.

Read more about how to write your report