Program Overview

About University of Michigan

The University of Michigan was founded in 1817 as one of the first public universities in the nation. It was first established on 1,920 acres of land ceded by the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi people “...for a college at Detroit.” The school moved from Detroit to Ann Arbor in 1837, when Ann Arbor was only 13 years old. The city had a booming population of 2,000, a courthouse and jail, a bank, four churches and two mills. It had been established in 1824 by two Easterners, John Allen and Elisha Rumsey. The town was named to honor the wives of the founders, Mary Ann Rumsey and Ann Allen, and the natural arbor created by the massive oaks in the area.

In its first year in Ann Arbor, the University had two professors and seven students. There were more Regents (nineteen) than faculty and students combined.

Today, the University of Michigan remains one of the most distinguished universities in the world and a leader in higher education. It is one of a small number of public institutions consistently ranked among the nation’s best universities, and it regularly is in the top three of the country’s public institutions, with over 51,000 students coming from all 50 states and over 100 foreign countries and 5,600 faculty at three campuses. The University of Michigan boasts of one of the largest health care complexes in the world, the best university library system in the country, and the some of the best computer access for students and faculty of any campus in the world. Over 5,500 undergraduate courses are taught each term in over 100 programs. Undergraduate, graduate and professional students have a choice of 17 separate schools and colleges, 588 majors, over 600 student organizations, 350 concerts and recitals every year, as well as hundreds of speakers, symposia, films, and readings.

The University of Michigan’s size, complexity and academic strength, its impressive array of resources and opportunities, the quality of its faculty and research institutes—-all these elements contribute to the rich environment where students learn and challenge themselves as they come into contact with people, cultures and ideas from all over the world.

About Ann Arbor

Forty-odd miles west of Detroit, liberal and bookish Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan. The walkable downtown, which abuts the campus, is loaded with free-trade coffee shops, bookstores and brewpubs. It's also a mecca for chowhounds; follow the drool trail toward anything named 'Zingerman's.'

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Academic

Click Here for a list of courses offered to exchange students.

Term date

• Host Institutions usually organize orientation activities for exchange students, with some mandatory, which take place 1-2 weeks before the start of the term. You should refer to the acceptance package and pay attention to the expected arrival or pick-up dates specified by your host institution.
• You should only depart after finishing all the final examinations (including resits) since host institutions will not make special arrangement for taking any examinations other than scheduled.
• Please CLICK HERE for more information on host institution’s term dates.