Academic Focus
This program offers full immersion in the Australian education system at Macquarie University, a leading research university with a broad vision of internationalization. You will study side-by-side with Australian students and other North American students at Macquarie's parkland campus just outside Sydney, one of Australia's most exciting and sophisticated cities. Choose your courses from a wide range of electives, thereby earning credit toward your major or additional graduation requirements. While you may choose any course from Macquarie’s full course catalog, you may wish to consider those subjects for which Macquarie is most well known. These areas include Accounting, Business Management, Health Services, Humanities and the hard sciences.
As a CEA student at Macquarie University you will take between three and four electives per semester session. The Australia higher education system does not translate in class contact hours to credits in the same way that the American system does. Most courses at Macquarie are worth either three or four credits, which equate to approximately 12 - 16 hours of study per unit per week, including class attendance, private study, library research, etc. The actual workload can vary from course to course and even week to week across the university. Courses offered for third, and final, year students can be worth four Macquarie credits. Due to the differences in the academic systems and the increased workload associated with Australian courses, CEA recommends taking no more than three courses per semester. Typically, students taking 9 - 14 credits at Macquarie University will earn 15 – 16 credits within the US system per semester session. However, it is up to the discretion of your academic advisor how many credits will be awarded.
Certificate Programs
Study Abroad Certificates are available to students in the following areas: Commerce, Environmental Studies, Arts, Science, Technology and Education. In order to earn a certificate students must take 6 Macquarie credits in the same discipline at the 2nd or 3rd year level. These disciplines cover the following subject areas:
| Discipline |
Area of Study |
| Commerce |
Accounting, Actuarial Studies, Business, Business Law, Demography, Economics,
Finance, Marketing, Statistics |
|
| Environmental Studies |
Earth and Planetary Science, Resource and Environmental Management, Human
Geography, Physical Geography |
|
| Arts |
Aboriginal Studies, Ancient History, Anthropology, Australian Studies,
Asian & European Languages, Critical & Cultural Studies, English,
Modern History, Media, Multimedia, Music, Philosophy, Politics, Sociology,
Women’s Studies, Communication |
|
| Science |
Biology, Chemistry, Linguistics, Math, Physics, Earth and Planetary Science,
Psychology, Human Geography, Physical Geography |
|
| Technology |
Computing, Information Technology, Electronics |
|
| Education |
Early Childhood Education, School Education |
Schedule Summary
Due to the differences in the Australian higher education system, there is no standard for the number of days a week a course may meet. Class meeting times vary across departments and subject areas. Expect the number of times you meet with your class to be different than what you are used to at your home institution.
Registration
You will be required to submit your course selections to the CEA headquarter office prior to departure for Australia. This will allow you to be pre-approved by the departments and/or lecturers for entry into your chosen courses. We strongly encourage you to take care in choosing your courses as if you decide to make changes upon arrival, you must complete this approval process on your own. Final course registration will take place during the week following Orientation. While in Sydney, you must enroll in a minimum of three courses and a maximum of four courses per semester. There are no required courses. To aid in the registration process, it is in your best interest to have courses, including alternates, approved by your academic advisor prior to departure.
To learn more about course requirements for your particular session as well as information regarding your host institution, you may click on the appropriate links above.
