Semester in Ecuador – Universidad San Francisco de Quito

During your time in Ecuador you’ll study at prestigious Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ). USFQ boasts strong programs in biology and environmental science; liberal arts; arts and communication; marketing; international relations; business; and hospitality and tourism, among others, with most courses taught in Spanish.

USFQ offers a few different “tracks” for you to consider, depending on your Spanish language ability/interests. All courses are available to CISabroad students, as long as you have the proper pre-requisites (language and/or content), so feel free to mix and match from the following:

• Content courses instructed in English (about 10% of USFQ’s content courses)
• Content courses instructed in Spanish (“mainstream” enrollment with majority locals as classmates)
• Spanish language and Ecuadorian culture courses for Spanish language learners

Content courses instructed in English
Content courses instructed in English are scattered throughout USFQ’s broad course catalog. You’ll find offerings in various sciences and arts, so you may be able to fulfill major/minor requirements. Even more likely, you’ll find some good electives to round out your degree. Especially when combined with a Spanish language course or two, you should be able to fill up your course load without considering content courses instructed in Spanish.

Content courses instructed in Spanish
Content courses instructed in Spanish require an intermediate or higher level of Spanish language proficiency. These are the most abundant offerings at USFQ and are offered in a wide range of disciplines. We recommend that you have at least 2 years of college-level Spanish or the equivalent in practice before considering taking courses alongside native speakers. If you are a non-native speaker of Spanish you may find certain disciplines/subjects difficult to follow if you haven’t been exposed to requisite vocabulary. Rule of thumb: if you can’t comprehend the course description in Spanish (provided below) you might be in over your head. We’ll also administer a Spanish language placement exam to help you gauge if this is an appropriate track for you.

Spanish language and Ecuadorian culture courses for Spanish language learners
Semester program participants will usually have a few different Spanish language courses on offer, including some in grammar, composition, conversation, culture, and specialty areas like medical Spanish. Not all potential Spanish language courses are listed in the course descriptions document below, so please inquire with us about what’s on offer for your term of interest. An online Spanish placement exam will help you determine the appropriate level.

Course descriptions:
To view the entire course catalog from USFQ please click here. Please note that not every course is offered every semester and that about 20 of the courses included in this file are taught in English. We have highlighted those courses in yellow to make them easier to view. All other courses are instructed in Spanish. As noted above, the Spanish language courses are not all included here; please inquire for offerings for your term of interest.