Prospective Inbound Exchange Students
Still trying to figure out if Purchase is the right place for you? The links below provide information about what it’s like to be a student on Purchase campus. Students must be nominated by one of our 18 partner universities in order to participate in an exchange.
Location
Purchase is located in the center of 500 acres of open fields and sprawling forests in Westchester County, just a 35-minute train ride from New York City. Our unique campus was designed by master architect Edward Larrabee Barnes. Behind our uniform brick walls are classrooms, laboratories, performance spaces, and studios—those spaces where the real heart of campus can be found. We like to think the consistency and order of our buildings’ facades is offset by the explosively colorful, diverse, and unconventional intellectual and artistic activity that happens inside them.
Academics
When the arts, sciences, and humanities collide on a campus that thrives on collaboration and experimentation—something extraordinary is bound to follow. Exchange students are accepted to a specific program at Purchase. Go to the Academics webpage to choose your area of study and begin exploring the possibilities.*
Purchase offers numerous resources and supports to ensure students are successful in their academic endeavors, and exchange students have access to all of it. The library is an indispensable resource on campus; you will definitely be spending time there. You can learn about what services and tools they offer to help you succeed academically. The Learning Center also offers a system of support that ranges from course-specific tutoring to broad instruction in writing and study skills—a great resource for students adjusting to the American education system.
*Please note, the conservatories of Music, Theatre Arts, and Film are not open to exchange students.
Cost
International students engaged in approved exchange programs pay tuition to their home institution. All other charges - housing accommodations, dining, mandatory fees, health insurance, miscellaneous expenses including specific course materials and fees – are the responsibility of the student and must be paid to Purchase College.
The 2022 Spring Cost Sheet for Exchange Students provides and estimate for the semester.
Life at Purchase
Purchase College attracts all kinds of students: activists, makers, performers, entrepreneurs, researchers, storytellers, and explorers. Students are exceptionally diverse, in every sense of that word. There is no “typical Purchase student.” Whether you’re pre-med, a conservatory virtuoso, or a documentary filmmaker, you’ll find the time and space to try new things, and partake in old traditions.
The Campus Life page is FULL of information about sleeping, eating, exercising, and having fun on campus. See a complete list of all of the non-academic offices and services available on campus with links for more information. The Counseling Center and Health Services support students’ mental and physical health while at Purchase. There are lots of fun clubs and organizations including the International Student Association, a great way to connect with other foreign students on campus. The Multicultural Center provides a space for all Purchase community members to explore, learn, and share their cultural identities and differences and celebrate our campus’s diversity.
The Studying in the States website from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security offers free government resources that explain the rules and regulations governing the nonimmigrant student process in the United States.
Information for Parents and Families
This page provides helpful information for parents and families to assist them in supporting their students’ success at Purchase. The more familiar parents and families are with Purchase, the better prepared they will be to guide their student on their academic, personal, and professional journey.