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The Semester in Australia at the University of Newcastle offers undergraduate students an opportunity to study for a semester at the University of Newcastle. Participants are fully integrated academically and socially with their Australian peers.
Newcastle boasts wonderful beaches, a low cost of living, a very favorable climate (49-64 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, 68-83 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer), and a casual lifestyle. Newcastle is also just a few hours north by train from the cosmopolitan excitement of Sydney.
The city and region are popular tourist destinations for Australians. A few kilometers south of Newcastle is Australia's largest seaboard lake, Lake Macquarie, scene of many national and international sailing events. Less than an hour's drive to the north is the magnificent harbor of Port Stephens, a popular center for big game fishing, sailing, surfing, and sailboarding; to the west are the internationally famous wineries of the Hunter Valley.
Like many communities in Australia, Newcastle was originally established as a penal colony. The discovery of coal in the area transformed 19th Century Newcastle into one of the world's busiest coal ports. Located on a breathtaking stretch of Australia's coastline, Newcastle today is a bustling, modern, down-to-earth city of 350,000. Newcastle offers great city attractions such as restaurants, cafés, parks and gardens, theaters, art galleries, shopping centers, and nightclubs.
Academic program
The University of Newcastle is set on a natural bushland site in an area called Callaghan, just west of Newcastle City. The student population is 23,000 including almost 4,000 international students. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly.
International students participate in a week-long orientation program (O-week) that prepares students for the academic and cultural experience ahead. U.S. students then enroll in regular courses and are fully-integrated into the university. Course options at Newcastle are varied and, in many cases, mirror courses and programs at Iowa State.
You should prepare a list of planned courses using the University of Newcastle A-Z course finder.
When courses are selected, you should review these choices with your ISU adviser for approval to be used in your ISU program of study. Note --- study abroad students may not take classes in law or medicine.
Remember that you will be located at the Callaghan campus and that when finding courses, semester 1 meets from Feb-June and semester 2 meets from from July-November.
There may also be an opportunity for you to gain additional academic credit by attending a J-Term "summer" course at the University of Otago in New Zealand before joining the Newcastle Feb-June semester. For more information, go to Otago J-term.
Accommodation options
You may apply for a variety of housing options on campus or may choose to live off campus. Students who choose to live off campus must plan to arrive two weeks prior to the beginning of O-week in order to secure housing.
The ISU Program Fee for Spring 2010 is $7,300. This cost includes Newcastle tuition and health insurance and is applied to the ISU university bill. The fee does not include airfare, housing, food, books and supplies, and travel expenses. Click on the "budget sheets" tab above for more details.
Orientation tip
In preparation for the program, please consider reading "In a Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson. It is a fun read and a great overview of Australia that includes some basic geography, history, and culture of the land down under.
Brochure
