Academic expatriation

Spending a semester or a year at a partner university

Academic expatriation involves attending a full semester or academic year at a partner university of Excelia Business School, in an academic, linguistic and cultural environment different from your home campus, whether you study in La Rochelle, Tours, Orléans or Paris-Cachan. This experience is part of the curriculum and, for certain programmes, it is a condition for obtaining the degree: your programme's page tells you whether this is the case. It therefore exists across our programmes, in forms that vary from one course to another: notably the Master in Management (Programme Grande École), the BBA International, the Bachelor in Business, which offers it in the 3^rd year, or our Master of Science (MSc) programmes.

Discover Florent's academic expatriation in Thailand

It relies on our partner universities, which give substance to the school's international dimension: rather than a simple study stay, an exchange departure places you at the heart of a different education system, with its own language of instruction and its own methods. Duration, credits earned, choice of destination and funding: the following sections detail each of these steps for you.

Credits earned, double degree possible

The stay earns ECTS credits (European Credit Transfer System): 30 for a semester with an Excelia Business School partner, 60 for a full year, or their equivalent depending on the host university. This period is recognised by your home institution, subject to passing examinations, and it counts fully towards obtaining your French degree. You therefore do not lose time on your course; you continue it elsewhere.

With certain partners, this stay can also lead to a double degree, which adds a foreign academic recognition to your course. This possibility depends on the partner and the programme followed.

Choosing your destination, funding your stay

The choice of host university is built with your programme's international coordinators, based on the languages you speak, your professional and personal plans, and the opportunities offered by your programme.

It relies on our partner universities, a network that forms part of a wider dynamic: the Excelia network has 233 academic partners in 57 countries.

For a departure within Europe, the European Union's Erasmus+ grant contributes to travel and accommodation costs. To benefit from it, you must spend at least three months at a European higher education institution, while being enrolled and named within a partner institution that has signed an agreement with Excelia Business School. Once validated, this period is recognised as such by your home institution. Its amount varies depending on the destination and is set each year by the European Commission, but there is nothing to stop you combining it with a means-tested grant obtained in France, which reduces the budget for your stay accordingly. And if you have already benefited from it within the last twelve months, you can even reapply, subject to certain conditions.

The Erasmus+ grant only covers part of this budget: our study cost simulator helps you estimate what the rest represents over a year abroad.