Study Abroad

Green River College Study Abroad

Photo/Video Credit:Ashah Dolleman, Bruce Haulman, Caleb Leong, Marc Milsten, Patrick Navin, Heidi Yagen

Mission: We offer transformative academic experiences that provide students with new global perspectives and skills that will help them thrive in their academic and professional pursuits. 

Earn academic credits while living and studying abroad in some of the world's most fascinating places. Select a destination below to learn more about a specific program.

Upcoming programs, in chronological order:

Critical Languages Scholarship (CLS)

Are you interested in studying foreign languages? The CLS is a fully funded summer program offering intensive language studies abroad for 15 world languages. 

COVID-19 Update:

• Most of our sponsored program locations have dropped COVID entry restrictions. However, some locations still require COVID vaccination
• If any program is canceled prior to departure from the USA due to COVID-19, students will receive a full or partial refund, depending on the date of cancelation.

More Value for Your Money

Studying abroad through a community college is much more affordable than a 4-year university. The savings in tuition dollars alone are significant. 

2022 Study Abroad Tuition Rates (15 credits)

• GRC: $1,490 
• UW Seattle: $4,081 

Transfer Courses

Course credits are transfer level, however, since acceptability varies from school to school, you may want to insure that your selections are accepted to the transfer institution of your choice.

Global Learning on Campus

In addition to study abroad, GRC offers lots of opportunities for global learning and engagement on campus

COIL Virtual Exchange Courses

COIL stands for Collaborative Online International Learning. GRC offers select COIL-enhanced classes that offer students the opportunity to partner with a class in another country. Students meet and collaborate online in small groups on a cross-disciplinary project. You still get regular GRC credit for your class, but get to make friends in another country and build cross-cultural working skills as part of your learning process! There is no extra fee to register for a COIL-enhanced class. Link to future class offerings (coming soon).

In Fall 2022 we are offering a Business 164 COIL class which will also include an optional 2-week trip to visit your virtual classmates in Taiwan! Learn more about the Taiwan program here.

Global Leadership Program

A free program to enhance your leadership skills; valued by global employers. Students meet with guest speakers and mentors twice a week for 8 weeks, complete a group project and earn a Certificate of Completion. Offered every Fall and Spring quarter. All GRC students are eligible to apply. Visit our website to learn more!

Peer Mentoring Jobs

Apply for an on-campus job to work as a peer mentor for new international students! You get to mentor a small group of incoming students from across the globe and help them adjust to life in Auburn and on campus. The program is called Foundation for Success. Check out the linked website to learn more and follow @foundationforsuccessgrc on Instagram for hiring updates. You can also contact Erica Swenson for more details about the job: eswenson@greenriver.edu 

International Clubs

GRC has multiple student clubs with an international or multi-cultural focus. Clubs are entirely student-driven. Members plan and host fun events and usually meet weekly. All clubs are inclusive (you don't need to belong to a certain culture to join the club). If you don't see a club that interests or represents you, you can always apply to form a new club!

Our Study Abroad Partners

Green River College sponsors programs in partnership with the Washington Community College Consortium for Study Abroad (WCCCSA). The WCCCSA Consortium includes 17 colleges in the State of Washington.

The Australia/New Zealand program is developed by Green River College in partnership with Newman College in Melbourne, Australia and Unitec University in Auckland, New Zealand. The Japan program is developed by Green River College in partnership with Kogakuin University in Hachioji, Japan.

Other country programs offered above are made possible by our partnerships with professional study abroad partner organizations, including the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS), Barcelona Study Abroad Experience (SAE), Costa Rica Instituto de Cultura y Lengua (ICLC), Centre d’Etudes Franco-Américain de Management (CEFAM), and WorldStrides.

Washington state residence is not required to participate in these programs. All participants who register for classes through Green River College are considered our students and receive a Green River transcript. Students from WCCCSA member colleges can register for their classes and pay tuition directly to their own institution.

Study Abroad Program History