Explore the World on a Wilderness Expedition
Become a global leader
Dive into a study abroad experience like no other. Travel to one of our campuses around the world, then head into the wilderness. Each NOLS study abroad program offers countless benefits for personal growth, including opportunities to practice foreign language skills, develop cultural understanding, and expand on your academic goals.
During your time abroad, you’ll embrace experiential learning while earning academic credit as you get to know a new environment and different culture firsthand. At the start, you’ll work on building key outdoor and leadership skills under the guidance of experienced instructors. Stepping out of your comfort zone, you’ll engage with the local communities of your host country through daily interactions and structured homestays. You’ll return to your home university with evolved personal goals, a new perspective, new friends, and the confidence to lead in class, outdoors, and beyond.
Cultural Experiences and Language Immersion
While studying abroad with NOLS, you’ll find unique opportunities to engage with local communities as you explore beautiful and remote wilderness areas. Far from the tourist centers, you’ll immerse yourself in local culture, embarking on a journey of international education. That might include helping your host family herd livestock in Patagonia, chatting with local fishermen in Baja, or practicing your conversational Hindi over a cup of chai in the Himalayas.
Our semesters in India, Baja, Patagonia, and East Africa each offer unique opportunities for language immersion or learning a new language. Learn Kiswahili during a family stay during a Semester in East Africa. Practice your Spanish while helping a poblador on their campo on a Semester in Patagonia or while visiting a remote Mexican fishing village on a Semester in Baja.
Service Opportunities
During a NOLS study abroad program, service is an opportunity to engage with a local community and contribute to a meaningful project. You might volunteer to help renovate a school building, restore backcountry trails, help out on a campo in Patagonia, or teach English at a local school. All projects are a way of giving back to the communities you’ve had the privilege of visiting.
Wilderness Classrooms
Leave technology behind and focus on the world around you. On a NOLS Semester, the natural world is your classroom. Whether you’re sea kayaking in New Zealand, mountaineering in Chilean Patagonia, or skiing in the backcountry in Wyoming, you’ll be surrounded by and connected to the natural world in a way that’s hard to achieve when technology is all around you. Between sections of your semester, you’ll have ample opportunity to reconnect to the digital world by accessing your phone or another device; some students choose to stay disconnected for their entire semester.
Hands-on Education in Local Ecology
Experience the natural world around you on a NOLS Semester. Every semester program is rooted in wild places and creating a connection to the ecosystem that you’re living and traveling through. On a Semester in Baja you’ll learn about desert ecology while backpacking through the Sonoran Desert; on the sea kayak and sailing sections, you'll discover the diverse marine wildlife of the Sea of Cortez. On a Semester in East Africa you’ll spend one section on a safari, watching and learning about zebras, lions, and giraffes; on another section you’ll climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and learn about the mountain ecosystem of Tanzania. No matter which NOLS Semester program you choose, you'll leave your course with a unique and deep understanding of the local environment.
Study Abroad Scholarships & Financial Aid
NOLS offers nearly $1.9 million in needs-based scholarships each year. Our scholarships take into account unusual expenses, and special or changing circumstances. Scholarships can range from a small portion to larger amounts of the course cost.
You can also use 529 savings plans, consortium agreements for federal financial aid, veterans’ benefits, and AmeriCorps awards to help fund your study abroad tuition.
Earn Academic Credit
Earn up to 27 credit hours in a variety of fields, including Cultural Studies, Leadership Techniques, Environmental Studies, and Risk Management. Over 400 colleges and universities across the country recognize credits earned through NOLS study abroad courses, and numerous other institutions award their own credits based on your study abroad experience with us.
NOLS Diploma
A Recognized Credential
A NOLS diploma represents your cumulative course accomplishments to universities, employers, and others. Some expeditions offer additional industry-recognized certifications and certificates of completion:
Certifications
- Wilderness First Aid
- Wilderness First Responder
- Wilderness EMT
NOLS Certificates of Completion
- Leave No Trace Trainer
- Leave No Trace Level 2 Instructor
- Level 1 Avalanche Training
- Avalanche Awareness
- Rock Climbing Training
- Rock Rescue Training
- Swiftwater Rescue Training
Popular Destinations for Studying Abroad
Explore our worldwide campuses and gain new perspectives
Send More Study Abroad Information
Wilderness Skills
Students learn skills to travel in the backcountry
BLOG: STORIES FROM THE WILD
Tolerance for Uncertainty: Sea, Mountains, and Culture on a Patagonia Semester
Chilean NOLS grad Ignacio Martínez shares stories and advice from his Semester in Patagonia.
I Belong in the Woods: Spring Semester in New Zealand
NOLS grad Natalie Beittel reflects on why she chose to travel to New Zealand for her study abroad semester with NOLS and what she learned from her experience.
