alt=""

About International Programs

We enable every WSU student to graduate with a rich understanding of different cultures and nations by bringing international students and scholars to our campuses and sending students abroad to advance their studies. We also work with academic institutions, governments, and other organizations worldwide to build strategic partnerships that advance research and discovery.

Admissions and Recruitment

Bringing international students to campus

alt=""

We help prospective students around the world discover a place where they can learn, grow, and prepare for their futures.

  • Recruit qualified applicants from around the world
  • Find the WSU program that best fits each applicant
  • Help applicants through the admissions process
  • Start each applicant on their lifelong journey as a Coug
110 countries home to WSU international students

International Student and Scholar Services

Enriching student experiences

alt=""


We provide a welcoming and inclusive environment with a wide range of programs and services for international students, faculty, and visiting scholars from over 100 countries.

  • Provide orientation and mentorship programs to help international visitors become integral members of the community
  • Advise students, visiting scholars, and international faculty about immigration regulations related to the university
  • Advance cultural understanding and awareness of the needs and perspectives of international students, scholars, and faculty
  • Ensure compliance with federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) reporting requirements

The International Center: A place for international connections

Students from a wide range of nations and cultures join in workshops, civic activities, and other programs at the university’s International Center.

  • Provide a safe, welcoming, and comfortable space for international and domestic students
  • Plan and implement programs to increase students’ familiarity with campus and engagement in extracurricular activities
  • Offer internship opportunities for students to learn how to develop and manage programs

Located in the Compton Union Building (CUB) in the heart of the Pullman campus, the center enables international and domestic students to connect with others and share their experiences with the university community. It is also where many students come to study and relax with friends.

Academic English, Undergraduate Foundation, and International Master’s Programs

  • Assist international students in building English-language proficiency
  • Prepare international students for study at U.S. colleges and universities
alt=""

Global Learning

Empowering students to study abroad

alt=""

WSU students may select from 4 primary types of global learning opportunities: exchange programs, faculty-led programs, provider programs, and internship programs.

For students unable to travel, we also offer on-campus and virtual programs.

600+ programs 70 countries 7 continents
  • Provide transformative student experiences to prepare graduates to lead and excel in a global society
  • Advise students about global opportunities such as study abroad
  • Offer the Global Leadership Certificate to internationalize students’ academic programs of study

Types of programs

alt=""

Outgoing Exchange

A WSU student attends a partner institution overseas and pays tuition to WSU, “trading places” with a student from that organization.
alt=""

Incoming Exchange

A student from overseas attends WSU and pays tuition to their home institution, essentially “trading places” with a WSU student.
alt=""

Faculty Led

A WSU professor designs, organizes, and leads a group of WSU students on a short-term experience abroad.
alt=""

Provider

Programs are developed and managed by a partner, third-party organization.
alt=""

Internship

WSU students do full- or part-time internships with coursework taken abroad during a semester or the summer.
alt=""

Distinguished Scholarship

National grants, fellowships, and awards characterized as “distinguished” awards are highly competitive and demand extensive preparation.

Global Partnerships and Research Services

Welcoming scholars from around the world

alt=""

Scholars at WSU break down geographic barriers to discovery by forging partnerships with colleagues around the world.

Building partnerships that advance research initiatives

  • Build strategic alliances with academic institutions and other organizations in many nations
  • Facilitate interdisciplinary partnerships
  • Assess the impact of WSU’s international partnerships
  • Identify international funding opportunities
  • Support internationally relevant research proposals

Bestowing prestigious honors

The WSU Fulbright Academy helps WSU faculty and students compete for the Fulbright program’s prestigious international exchange awards. The academy also welcomes international Fulbright scholars to WSU and brings public recognition to all the university’s Fulbright participants.

Part of the academy’s mission is to conduct regional outreach to increase the Northwest’s participation in Fulbright programs.

“I have long held to the fundamental belief that if we are to change—and change in bold and significant ways—the delivery of higher education in this country, it will require that we develop new paradigms, new ways of thinking, new platforms of knowledge that will position us for the challenges and the opportunities of this global economy and marketplace.”

Elson S. Floyd, Ph.D
Past President Washington State University (dec.)