Overview
Semester @ SF State is a program that provides international students with the opportunity to take one or two semesters of academic courses at San Francisco State University. Students can choose from a wide variety of classes in over a 100 different disciplines on a space available basis. Students can take classes in business, engineering, design, communications, international relations, social sciences and more.
Semester @ SF State will allow you to:
- Enroll in 12 units (undergraduate) or 9 units (graduate) of SF State academic courses per semester
- Study at SF State campus along with SF State students for one or two semesters
- Receive an official SF State transcript showing your earned course units
- Course units and grades may transfer back to your home institution
- Enroll free of charge in AU 110 Living in San Francisco to learn more about and experience the City of San Francisco.
Cost & Length
Semester Tuition: $6,324 for 12 undergraduate or $4,743 for 9 graduate units of courses (in person); or $395 per unit (online)
Length: 1 - 2 Semesters
When to Start: Fall, Winter (Winter Session Online), Spring
*For all partners, we cover the cost of shipping DS-2019 forms to the partner office. If students want documents mailed to their home, they will need to pay for shipping.
Partner Information
Students from partner universities will attend the Semester @ SF State program in person as J-1 exchange visitors. One of the goals of the exchange visitor program is for participants to have the opportunity to engage more broadly with Americans and share their own cultures with their U.S. host communities.
All J-1 students are expected to contribute to the internationalization of SF State through campus and community engagement. More details about opportunities to contribute will be shared during the mandatory J-1 student orientation.
This program is also available to eligible students from any university around the world to attend virtually and take online courses via Open University.
Please contact the Director of Recruitment and Global Partnership, Alexander Chang at achang@sfsu.edu to confirm if your institution is an SF State partner.