A Global Independent Study offers students the ability to pursue a global social work project in an international location while earning 1-3 elective credits. Projects are student-initiated and might include service learning, research, comparative studies, or other activities. Students must find a clinical-track or tenure-track faculty member to serve as the faculty instructor who will provide academic guidance as well as grade the course. Students and the faculty instructor determine the course content, goals, and assignments before the student travels abroad. All travel must take place during the spring/summer semester or the breaks immediately preceding or following the term.
Global Independent Study grant applications for Summer 2026 travel are due March 1, 2026.
The "Identities Abroad" resource was designed to provide social work-specific guidance and help students think about how a global social work experience may impact their identities.
Eligibility
MSW students from all pathways, curriculum tracks and program types are eligible, including those in our part-time and online programs.
To be eligible to receive funding from OGA, students are required to be abroad for a minimum of 2 weeks. In addition, students are only eligible to receive funding from OGA for a Global Independent Study once.
In conjunction with the Global Independent Study Grant, the Office of Global Activities is offering a Passport Grant of $165 per person to incoming MSW students who have never held a U.S. passport before. Students are automatically considered for the Passport Grant when they submit the Global Independent Study Grant application. We strongly encourage students with no international travel experience to apply for this grant.
As a note, the Office of Global Activities will not fund a Global Independent Study that focuses on volunteering in an orphanage. This is due to concerns around the rise of orphan tourism and voluntourism.
Course Work
Global Independent Study uses the course number SW 528. Credit hours received for SW 528 are determined by the student and faculty instructor. Credits range from 1-3 elective credits and are based on academic content rather than the duration of travel. The course can include volunteering, research, comparison studies or other academic activities. Those pursuing research may require Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. Please refer to the IRB Tips for Student Researchers. For more information, visit the IRB Health Sciences and Behavioral Sciences web page.
Travel Dates
Students who are enrolled in classes during the spring/summer term typically travel for 2-4 weeks after the spring/summer term and before the fall term. Students not enrolled during the spring/summer (typically 20-month students) may travel anytime between the end of winter term and the beginning of the fall term.
Students cannot schedule international travel to conflict with scheduled classes. Please consult the academic calendar to ensure your proposed dates do not conflict with classes. In addition, students are not able to miss more than two weeks of scheduled field education. Permission for any changes to the field education schedule for a student to pursue a Global Independent Study project is at the discretion of the Field Instructor and Field Faculty.
Travel Destinations
Students can travel to any country with a few exceptions. The University of Michigan restricts or warns students from traveling in select destinations. If you plan to travel to a country or region included on the list additional approval is required.
Faculty Instructor
During the fall term, students should develop a plan for their Global Independent Study and ask a SSW faculty member to serve as the faculty instructor. Faculty instructors must be clinical/research or tenure-track faculty (please note LEO lecturers cannot serve as faculty instructors). Students should meet with their faculty instructor regularly to develop learning goals and assignments. Students who need help finding a faculty instructor can contact the Office of Global Activities (OGA).
U-M faculty experts are great sources of information about specific countries/regions (although cannot serve as Global Independent Study instructors). A list of faculty experts can be found on the Global Michigan website.
Funding
The cost of Global Independent Study depends on multiple factors including the length of the trip, the cost of airfare, room/board, visa fees, transportation, food, travel insurance and vaccinations.
Accepted students receive up to $3,000 to help cover costs and are responsible for funding remaining trip costs. Also, students may apply for additional funding resources.
Students are not required to apply for funding through the Global Independent Study Grant in order to complete an Independent Study project internationally. Students can plan to self-fund their trip or find alternative funding. In these cases, students do not need to submit a Global Independent Study application, but must secure a faculty instructor to receive independent study credit.
Program Providers and U-M Projects
Students can arrange a Global Independent Study through a program provider. Students need to research and vet these organizations themselves.
Some potential programs affiliated with U-M include:
- The Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Program (MHIRT)
- The Quito Project
- The William Davidson Institute
Application Requirements
- Detailed budget (template provided in the application system)
- Completed Global Independent Study Instructor Signature Form
- Five (5) short essays (maximum of 2000 characters each) which should be discussed with the faculty instructor for the Global Independent Study project:
- Please describe your proposed global independent study project (e.g. what will you be doing? With whom or what organization will you be working? How will you carry out your project? Etc.).
- How does this independent study project fit into your overall educational and professional goals?
- What knowledge, skills and abilities do you hope to gain as they relate to social work competencies? (Please refer to the CSWE competencies and/or the specific pathway competencies)
- How does the proposed global independent study project address issues related to social justice and/or well-being of individuals and/or communities? Explain how you will address issues related to social justice and provide some context about the issue(s). In addition, if you are going through a program provider, please include how the provider addresses these issues.
- What academic assignments/products will you produce as a part of this Global Independent Study? Examples include literature review, research paper, presentation, journal article, etc. The academic product should be determined in conversation with the faculty instructor of your project. Remember that credit cannot be given only for the time abroad.
Apply
For information on setting up a Global Independent Study, please review the following:
If you have questions, please contact OGA at (734) 615-0012 or [email protected].