The GW Global Bachelor's Program is an exciting opportunity to make study abroad a central part of your undergraduate degree. The Global Bachelor's Program was designed for top students in the Columbian College, Elliott School and the School of Business to spend multiple semesters abroad as part of their GW studies. Participants will leave GW with significant international experience having explored and learned to adapt to diverse social, cultural and academic situations in at least three countries. Students will study their own major from leading scholars and teachers at GW and abroad and will encounter a broad international perspective. They will learn how to communicate with others from diverse cultural backgrounds while establishing a network of colleagues around the world. Successful completion of the program will earn students a Global Bachelors designation on their GW transcript.    

The first semester abroad will be together as a cohort during the spring semester of sophomore year at Fudan University in Shanghai, one of the most prestigious universities in China. Global Bachelor's students will study in English alongside Chinese and international students. Students will live on campus in dorms while one of the world’s most dynamic cities lies just beyond the campus gates. 

After the Shanghai semester, Global Bachelor's students will choose two additional international experiences.  One semester must be at an approved study abroad location somewhere else in the world (that is, not in China). The second experience may be 10 weeks dedicated to a full-time international internship during the summer term, or during a semester of leave, or, a third semester of study abroad at any approved location of your choice.

Students must apply to the program in the spring semester of their Freshman year. Courses taken during the study abroad semesters will transfer for GW credit towards majors, minors and electives. There are also several additional course requirements for the Global Bachelor program. First, students will complete the Global Bachelor's Sequence: a series of three one-credit courses designed to help them prepare, engage and reflect upon the global experience. Students must also take one course offered by the Global Bachelor’s Director during the China semester.  According to the policy of their home school, students may be required to become familiar with at least one foreign language. To satisfy this requirement one semester of Chinese language study may be taken during the Shanghai semester at Fudan University. 

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FAQs for GBP 

Semester in Shanghai