How to Apply
Students apply to programs through their home institution, generally through the study abroad office or international office. Each member institution has its own procedures, so it is advisable to get in touch with the appropriate individuals at your home insitution. You can find contact numbers for your home institution on each institution's page. Application deadlines may vary from institution to institution, but generally are in January or February for programs beginning in the Fall.
The official TASSEP application form can be downloaded here, in either Word or PDF formats below:
Program Costs
TASSEP is an exchange program and so is the cheapest way for students to study abroad. Students simply pay tuition in their home institution and can enroll in the foreign university with no additional costs. Transatlantic transportation and all living costs are borne by the students. In the US, the study abroad office may impose an administrative fee.
The program requires no additional costs for American and Canadian students because TASSEP does not need to pay special professors to instruct the students as is often the case in many study abroad programs. European students are not required to pay North American tuition fees.
Language Requirements
It is expected that a student attending a non-English speaking university, will have had at least 2 college years of training in that language. Additional work or experience is desirable. Exceptions to the above stated minimum requirements can be made in consultation with the foreign university advisor.
Most of the non-English speaking universities offer intensive language programs during a 3-4 week prior to the beginning of the academic year.
The sending institution is responsible for certifying the adequacy of the language preparation. European students need to provide a proof of English proficiency: CLES B2 (accepted by all institutions). TOEFL, IELTS, or other equivalent certificates can also be accepted by institutions according to their language requirements.
Courses and Grades (ECTS System)
Each student's course enrollment is decided by prior agreement between the student, their advisor, and the foreign university representative or coordinator. This agreement, signed by the three parties, then serves as a guarantee that satisfactory completion of the course work will count toward fulfillment of the home institution graduation requirements. Whether the home institution lists the grades in their transcripts, or uses them in determining the grade point average is up to the home university.
Communication between the two universities is essential to ensure that the science and non-science courses will be available to the student. Not all European universities offer both science and non-science courses. However, European students can enroll in non-science courses in US or Canadian universities if their home department approves of this.
The credit transfer system is governed by the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). Each participating institution provides a list of courses with a detailed course content and work load in the form of course credits. Additional information includes a typical four year course program for science majors in the specified field of study. Secondly, the ECTS system is based on a nominal and generally agreed upon full course load at each university, which has been assigned to be 60 credits. This permits each university to assign an ECTS credit rating to its courses. Finally, the ECTS uses a common application form and provides a transcript of student grades with a well defined ECTS grades for each course taken.
Most US and Canadian universities are based on a full yearly load of 30 credit hours for undergraduate courses. Thus, 1 US/CA credit=2 ECTS credits. Most courses meeting 3 hours per week thus have 6 ECTS credits. However, graduate students generally take just 3 courses per term, rather than the normal 4 or 5 courses for undergraduates. A full load for them is thus 18 hours per year. In general, these graduate level courses require considerably more work than the normal undergraduate courses. Such courses should count for 9-10 ECTS credits. Since in the course catalog of most universities, little distinction is made between graduate and undergraduate courses, European students planning their course load need to inquire about the nature of the course before deciding how many courses they can take. European universities also differ in the structure of their courses, but the 60 ECTS credits per year is standard.