Global Education

Program Dates

Term	Start Date	End Date
Spring 2024	January 21st, 2024	May 10th 2024
Fall 2024	August 23rd, 2024	December 13th, 2025
Spring 2025	January 19th, 2025	May 9th, 2025

These dates are tentative. Confirm program dates before booking travel.

Where: Amman, Jordan

Amman has an ancient history and a diverse, vibrant modernity. It is an accessible, cosmopolitan city with numerous museums, art galleries, theaters, and cinemas. With its reputation for security and hospitality, Amman is home to inhabitants from all over the Middle East. The city provides a safe and stable environment for students to learn about the region.

Academics

CIEE’s Middle East Studies program offers study abroad students a series of specially designed area studies courses in economics, history, international relations, environment, literature, politics, regional diplomacy, and religion. All courses provide an overview of issues relevant to Jordan and the broader Middle East region. One of these courses can be an internship at a local government agency, international organization, national organization, or business. Although there is no language prerequisite, all students are required to take both Modern Standard Arabic and Colloquial Jordanian Arabic while in Amman following an onsite placement exam.

Students also have the option to take one course from a pre-approved selection at Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT).

Students will take: Modern Standard Arabic at the appropriate level
Colloquial Jordanian Arabic at the appropriate level
Two or three elective courses.  This may include one course from PSUT.

Academic Structure

Participants study only with other CIEE students from the Middle East Studies program at CIEE Amman. The extracurricular activities, lectures, and workshops with experts on a range of contemporary issues allow CIEE students to gain official insight into Jordan’s most pressing domestic and international concerns. Participants who choose to take a course through PSUT will study with Jordanian and other international students on the PSUT campus.

Course Credit

CIEE courses: 3 U.S. semester/4.5 quarter credits; 45 contact hours
CIEE Internship: 3 U.S. semester/4.5 quarter credits; 15 seminar hours, 100-120 internship placement hours
CIEE Directed Independent Research: 3 semester/4.5 quarter credits; 15 contact hours, 100-120 research hours
Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT) courses: 3 U.S. semester/4.5 quarter credits; 48 contact hours 

Courses

For a full list of course offerings, visit CIEE’s website here.

Eligibility

2.75 G.PA., demonstrated interest in the Middle East and Arabic language through coursework and statement of purpose. There are no specific language requirements for this program.

Housing & Student Life

Study Abroad students have the option of living with a Jordanian host family or in an apartment with other CIEE program participants. Homestay placements are made based on compatibility between families and students, and in some cases, a suitable homestay may not be available for every interested student. All CIEE housing options in Jordan require students to make adjustments to the host culture, including curfews, limits on guests, and decorum. Apartments have limits on visitors and quiet hours for safety purposes and deference to local norms. Students in homestays generally eat two meals a day with their families and most meals on the weekends. Students selecting the apartment option need to budget for all meals, as they are not included in the program fee. For students planning to stay for the academic year, meals between the fall and spring semesters are not included in the program fee unless they continue to reside with their homestay family. All students are responsible for their lunches.

Visa & Immigration information

You must obtain a visa to study in Jordan and will work with CIEE on this process. If you are not a U.S. citizen, please contact the Jordanian consulate in your home country for visa requirements.

Fees & Costs

Students pay Allegheny tuition, double room, a Gator Blue meal plan (if choosing the homestay option),  and an off-campus study fee of $800. Allegheny financial aid, except work-study/campus employment, is applied to program costs. Tuition includes housing, international travel insurance (CIEE iNext), field trips, and transcript administration fees. Allegheny students do not have to pay the program deposit requested by CIEE. Estimated additional costs include: weekday lunches (or all meals if in an apartment), CIEE application fee, books and supplies (approx. $250), international airfare & local transportation, visa fees, and personal expenses.

Application Process

Allegheny students must apply for approval to study off-campus from the Global Education office AND apply directly to their chosen program.For this program, students should work on the Allegheny approval application at the same time as the host program application. The Allegheny approval application deadline is February 20 for fall programs and September 20 for spring programs. Study away approval applications will be reviewed immediately following the appropriate semester deadline. The separate application deadline to apply directly to this program will vary and could be before or after Allegheny’s approval application due date. Check directly on their website (linked at the top of this page) for deadline information. For more information about the study away application process, please visit the application steps page.