The Berkeley Economics Semester Abroad Program offers well qualified international students the opportunity to study in the Economics at UC Berkeley. Students are nominated by their home institution and invited to participate by the department chair. Participants must be advanced Economics students, typically in their third year of study. Students take at least 12 units within the department in two required courses and two upper division course electives.
No, BESAP is not part of the UC exchange program. It is an independent program offered by the Department of Economics in conjunction with UC Extension.
Students interested in BESAP do not apply directly to the Economics Department. If your university is listed on our participating institutions list, contact your Economic department or email the BESAP Coordinator Blair Van Tassel BVanTassel@berkeley.edu for a referral
Students participating in the program are sent a list of available courses before the semester begins. Course offerings vary each semester, and though we strive to accommodate our visiting students, we may have impacted courses where enrollment is not possible.
Highly qualified students will be asked to complete an application and provide transcript information prior to registration. Students are evaluated and approved based on their preparation. Please note our graduate program is extremely competitive and all potential undergraduate students must meet the highest academic standard to qualify. Once approved, enrollment is based on availability - the core graduate curriculum (Econ 201A/B, 202A/B) is impacted and may not be available.
Yes, both the UC Extension orientation and the department orientation are mandatory. They provide you with information on healthcare, registration and safety issues on campus.
Students will be able to select courses they would like to take during the semester. The BESAP Coordinator will make available of list of courses open for enrollment and a list a courses not available for enrollment prior to the start of the term. We ask that students have alternate selections for courses as space is limited in some classes.
Changes can be made if space is available in your adjusted schedule.
Discussion sections are supplemental lectures led by graduate student instructors (GSIs) that introduce and review course material. If you would like to enroll in a course with a discussion section, you will need to select the discussion section of your choice at the time of enrollment.
Please contact the UC Berkeley Extension’s Disabled Student Services (EXDSS) to get information on equal access and opportunities to all Extension programs and services for persons with disabilities and special needs.
You can find all your options for payment at: Concurrent Enrollment Fees.
Yes, you may submit a request with your application: I-House Housing.
I-House does fill up early, and we recommend applying to additional housing providers as backup. Extension's International Student Services has a Housing Website here which lists housing providers that visiting students have used in the past. The website also has information and blog posts about neighborhoods, typical pricing, types of housing, etc. Admitted students will get more housing information in your pre-arrival orientation course, and can also make a housing consultation appointment with International Student Services here: https://go.oncehub.com/ucbx-iss.