There's no one right way to go abroad and earn the International Engineering Certificate, but the following framework can help guide your choices. It's important to check in with the department advisor at some point along the way to talk about how the abroad experience integrates with your major-specific coursework.

Explore your goals

It's best to begin this process early during your time at MSU, so that you can make the most of opportunities abroad and plan your coursework. Going abroad sometime in the sophomore year is a popular choice.

Identifying a country, region or language that interests you is one way to begin to narrow the scope.

Get a sense of the opportunities abroad.

Get a sense of the some of the available courses at MSU for satisfying the international coursework requirement.

The bottom line is, it's OK to take some time to dream big and explore the possibilities.

Check in with advisor

Once your ideas for studying, working or volunteering abroad start to take shape, it's important that you check in with the International Engineering Certificate program advisor in your department. This is primarily to ensure that your abroad experience and related coursework are aligned with the coursework required for your major. If you are studying abroad, your advisor can help you plan out your major electives and making sure the abroad experience fits into the plan.

  • Chemical & Biological Engineering: Robin Gerlach, robin_g@montana.edu
  • Civil Engineering: Otto Stein, ottos@montana.edu
  • Computer Science: John Paxton, john.paxton@montana.edu
  • Electrical & Computer Engineering: David Dickensheets, davidd@montana.edu
  • Mechanical & Industrial Engineering: Erick Johnson, erick.johnson@montana.edu

Plan coursework

It can be a good idea to begin planning out your 15 credits of related international coursework before you go abroad, because studying a foreign language can satisfy much of the coursework requirement and can prepare you to be more culturally engaged during your time abroad.

If MSU offers language courses that are relevant to your international focus (Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish), you must complete the relevant language courses through 201 with a grade of C- or better.

Check out this list of classes that students have drawn from in the past. 

Go abroad

All MSU-related international travel is coordinated to some degree through MSU's Office of International Programs. They are your go-to resource for any study abroad trip that you are doing individually, and they provide support for faculty-led trips and other abroad experiences.

To begin to plan, take a deeper dive into the going abroad page on this website.

Generally, questions during this stage can be directed to the Study Abroad program at MSU: studyabroad@montana.edu.

Then, go have fun on your trip!

Apply for the certificate

Now it's just a bit of paperwork to earn the certificate. Fill out this application. It will be reviewed by your department advisor and then by Associate Dean Foreman in the COE dean's office. Once it has been approved, your college transcript will note that you have earned the International Engineering Certificate. Congratulations!