HECUA (the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs) offers several undergraduate semester-long off-campus study programs that help you develop a first-hand understanding of some of the most important issues of our time. Each of the thematic programs incorporates classroom studies, a 20-hour-per-week internship, and field study experiences.

Undergraduate University of Minnesota students earn 16 academic credits while being immersed in the Twin Cities community for the entire semester. You do not take classes on the campus while you are studying with HECUA, but you remain a full-time registered University of Minnesota student for visa and financial aid purposes.

HECUA currently offers four options:

1. City Arts: Explores the role of the arts in the community and in the struggle for social justice.
2. Environmental Sustainability: Science, Public Policy, and Community Action Explores community based strategies for creating environmental change in the Twin Cities and rural Minnesota
3. Metro Urban Studies Term (MUST): Seeks insights into poverty, inequality, and social change.
4. Writing for Social Change: Looks at fiction, poetry, and nonfiction alike as vital tools for social critique and transformation.

See the Career and Community Learning Center's page on off–campus study programs and exchanges. (don't miss the links to HECUA’s own program pages.)

Last modified on November 21, 2008