Undergraduate Current Students | Sciences Po

About Sciences Po

The name Sciences Po is an abbreviation of the school's official name: Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies).

Sciences Po's prestigious urban campus is in the historical Saint-Germain neighborhood, located in the heart of Paris. Each year, Sciences Po's staff, faculty and 7,500 students welcome over 1,000 exchange students from over 300 partner schools, making them an important part of the student community and the university's academic mission. The Exchange Programme allows international students to become familiar with the institution's particular educational and methodological approach for which Sciences Po is internationally reputed. In order to maximize the benefits of the Exchange Programme for exchange students, special attention is paid to addressing the specific needs of international students via an Exchange Programme for English as well as French speakers; French foreign language instruction; methodology courses; tutoring services; orientation programs; and numerous courses on the historic, economic, political and sociological facets of France and Europe. Students can combine specially tailored courses from Economics and Business with courses offered in other concentrations. Students may choose to study in English, in French or in both languages.

Term Dates

Sciences Po offers IBEX opportunities in the fall and spring semesters.

• Fall semester: late-August to late-December
• Spring semester: late-January to late-May

Dates are approximate and may be subject to change.

Housing and Living Costs

• Housing: approximately €320 – 900/month. Sciences Po does not offer on-campus student housing. International students are offered help in arranging accommodation through Sciences Po's Housing Office. The Housing Office provides a list of partnership agreements, and assistance with procedural matters where required.
• Food: approximately €300/month.
• Transportation: €30 – 125/month.
• Insurance: approximately €215. (In France, every student under 28 years old is required to register for the French student social security insurance system).
• Visa: $270 USD for Campus France/Etudes en France registration, $26 USD for VFS processing, and approximately $110 USD for a Long-Stay Student Visa.

€ = Euro

Find out more about IBEX tuition, housing, and other logistics.

Language of Instruction

English and French

Student Services

Students are treated as full-time Sciences Po students and have access to all facilities and are eligible for internships on request. French foreign language instruction, methodology courses, tutoring services, orientation programs, and numerous courses on the historic, economic, political, and sociological facets of France and Europe are offered.

Academic Information

If you are accepted to IBEX, you will attend two individual advising meetings to plan and revise your schedule: one with NYU Stern Academic Advising and one with the NYU Stern IBEX team. As you build your academic schedule for your semester abroad, carefully review and consider the following course information.

IBEX Course Information

• You may take a full semester of business classes while abroad on IBEX.
• At Sciences Po, students can complete up to 2 classes of their concentration. You will need to take or have taken 2 other courses in your concentration in residence at Stern. There are no exceptions to this policy. Students with concentrations that have more than a 12 credit and 4 class minimum, please contact your Advisor for specific guidance.
• Leave room for at least two general electives in your schedule. This allows you to:
  • Take interesting, location-specific courses not offered at Stern, and
  • Have more flexibility during the course registration process.
• Reference the IBEX Course Guide: What you can or cannot take.
  • You can take a maximum of two classes per concentration.
  • Accounting courses cannot be taken for credit toward the Accounting or CPA majors/concentrations.
  • All IBEX grades will transfer back to NYU Stern as Pass/Fail.

Sciences Po Pre-Approved Courses

• Review the list of Sciences Po Pre-Approved courses via the link below. The courses listed on this sheet were taken previously by Stern IBEX students and have already been approved for a specific NYU equivalent.
• There is no guarantee that the courses listed here will be offered during the specific semester you study abroad. It is important to be flexible. Have a Plan A and Plan B and the space to take some electives.
• If a course is already on this pre-approved list, it does not need to be reviewed again - unless you want to see if it will count towards a new requirement.

Finding New Courses

• You are not limited to only taking the courses listed on the spreadsheet.
• If you see a course on Science Po's website that you would like to take, but it is not listed below, you must submit the syllabus to Stern’s International Programs team for approval.
• Once Sciences Po publishes its confirmed courses for the semester you will be attending, you can revise your list as needed based on what is being offered.
• Sciences Po offers several different types of courses with varying credits:
  • Lecture course: 10 ECTS = 5 NYU credits
  • Seminar course: 5 ECTS = 3 NYU credits
  • Elective course : 5 ECTS = 3 NYU credits
  • Language course: 5 ECTS = 3 NYU credits
  • Artistic workshop: 5 ECTS = 3 NYU credits

Special Notes

• Stern students wishing to take courses at Sciences Po in Paris should be prepared to take Economics, Politics, or Elective courses only. Sciences Po's other limited business courses are only available at its satellite campus in Reims. All of the courses listed below are offered at the Paris campus.