Study Abroad Advisor

Study in Britain

How U.K. Universities Welcome U.S. Students

By Peter A. Lee

Univerities in the U.K. have a long history of welcoming students from the U.S. who wish to spend their junior or senior year abroad. Many, if not the majority, have even designed special courses for American students. However, the increasing demand for integrated study has been met by permitting JYA (Junior Year Abroad) students to follow a similar program of study to the British. The result has been that British institutions have become more professional in the awarding of credits, giving advice about courses, producing understandable transcripts, and producing literature that is meaningful to both JYA students and to their home tutors. It has also helped to educate British faculty members to the needs and aspirations of the American visiting students. As an example of what has happened I will take the Univ. of Exeter, which has a long tradition of attracting JYA students.

Exeter was one of the first, if not the first, to produce a special JYA prospectus which was, as far as possible, based on an American style student handbook. Each course was given a credit value. Flexibility was allowed in choosing courses among departments. As a result, JYA students now have a far greater choice of courses than the home undergraduates.

A special application form was devised. Students were told they could apply not only for the year but for one or two terms or even a semester. (Until recently, all universities followed a year calendar divided into three terms. Some universities still will only consider JYA students for the whole academic year.) Students choose their subjects for study and the application form is submitted with appropriate references and transcripts.

Decisions are made by a departmental Admissions Tutor or the Admissions Officer and departments informed of the student's acceptance. Potential problems, like a course not running because a staff member is on leave, can be identified before the student replies to any offer made.

Direct Enrollment Encouraged

British universities have a variety of contacts with their American counterparts for the admission of JYA students. Some are formal; others are loose understandings. At Exeter, the basic ground rules for all JYA students, since individual applications are also encouraged, is that the home institution of the student must be accredited and the student must have a GPA of over 3.00 in the final semester for which a transcript is available.

Formal links are often motivated by the British institution's having a course or courses that require their students to spend the third year of their four-year program in the U.S. In order to meet this requirement, precise agreements are important and are usually on a one-to-one exchange basis with tuition fees being waived.

Links may be based not on courses but on the wish to have a mutual link that is seen as beneficial to both the institutions involved. For example, Exeter has non-exchange links with a college that sends its students to the School of English and American Studies with a faculty member. Another college sends a faculty member to either English, History, or Politics departments, and the JYA students are free to select programs that are of greatest interest to them. Some U.S. universities and colleges have selected Exeter as one of a limited number of British universities that they require their students to attend. This kind of arrangement may help a U.S. faculty member in the U.K. who wishes to visit the students and institutions they are attending without too much difficulty.

Special Support for Visitors

Accepted students, whether exchange or not, are given the opportunity to arrive a few days before official registration to help them get oriented to the university and local community. Students from the U.S. are told what constitutes a full load and the importance of following correct procedures. The method of assessment is also made clear at that stage. JYA tutors are specially appointed. They, the Admissions Office, the International Office, and the Accommodation Office are all there to help with problems. It is the student's responsibility to make sure the program being followed will result in the credits expected back home.

Most British universities involved in JYA recruitment send appropriate literature to many, if not all, accredited American institutions so that prospective students can see what is available academically. Accommodation is usually guaranteed for JYA students. The U.K. is not a large country, so study outside London does not mean that London is impossible to visit. Rail services for the most part are directed towards London.

Since transcripts are most important to JYA students, Exeter produces a transcript with the courses studied, the credits earned, and a grade conversion chart that helps students' home institutions to translate grades into their own system.

As part of the JYA package, many British universities send a representative to visit American colleges and universities. Perhaps too many try to persuade their American counterparts that their university has the best JYA program in the U.K., but the real purpose is to gradually build up relationships of mutual trust.

American students are free to shop around for the British university that best suits them, subject to any constraints placed upon them by their home university or college. They can rest assured that our universities know that a happy student can do more good than any other ploy to attract students in the future. Exeter, for instance, has a JYA Committee whose charge is to generate policy and to educate departments about JYA students and their needs.

British higher education takes American students seriously. The universities and colleges welcome inquiries. It is in their own interests as well as the interests of the students to make certain there are no problems before and after application.

PETER A. LEE is Admissions Officer at the Univ. of Exeter.