College of Engineering offers Global Exchange Programs

Being an Auburn engineer doesn’t always mean studying at The Loveliest Village on the Plains. Some students decide they would prefer a more foreign college experience, at least for a semester.

Auburn engineers specifically have an opportunity to participate in a variety of study abroad programs in their college career, including the German Engineering Exchange Program.

Engineering exchange programs at Auburn offer semester-long agreements established between the host university and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Students who decide to participate in an exchange program can study at international universities such as Offenburg University in Germany; Aalen University in Germany; Karlsruhe, Germany; and Torino, Italy.

Auburn Engineering also hosts students from the visiting country, which forms an educational exchange agreement between the two universities.

Brandie Artalona and Jessica Wright, junior and senior in industrial and systems engineering, respectively, are two students who are participating in the German Engineering Exchange program this semester at the University of Applied Sciences Wurzburg-Schweinfurt in Bavaria, Germany.

“I highly recommend everyone come on this program,” Artalona said. “You learn more outside the classroom and the professors are really great, really friendly.”

Students who participate in the exchange programs are responsible to pay for 12 credit hours of tuition to Auburn University, along with meals, housing, textbooks and airfare. Exchange programs are a good fit for students who prefer to pay their regular Auburn tuition and fees, according to Auburn’s Global Programs brochure.

“It’s really fun to just hop on a train and be able to go to a whole other country for a weekend,” Wright said. “It’s a lot of independence, and that’s what we were told coming into this program. You have to self-study, self-plan, get insurance, get a bank account here. It’s a lot of independence and that’s the number one thing to remember going in.”

Professors in the exchange program speak very good English, according to both Artalona and Wright, however, they suggest knowing at least the basics of the vernacular before visiting. 

“Everyone is very welcoming, that’s one of the biggest things,” Wright said, and Artalona agreed. “They want to get to know you.”