University of the South Pacific

Location

The University of the South Pacific's Main Campus and headquarters is located in the south-west Pacific Ocean. Suva is the capital city and is about 5 minute bus ride from the university. Located on the Eastern side of the main Island, the university is situated alongside the waterfront and receives cool breeze throughout the year.

Program Type

Academic year or semester

ISEP-Exchange for US students.
ISEP-Direct site for students from all member institutions.

Program Dates

The University academic year is from mid-February to mid-November. USP observes the Southern Hemisphere calendar.

There are 18 weeks per semester - 14 weeks of lectures, 1 week of break, 1 week of study and 2 weeks of exams. There is also an Orientation week, which is 1 week before lectures start.

Programs

Accounting, Agriculture, Banking, Business Studies, Development Studies and Governance, Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Management & Public Administration, Official Statistics, Tourism, Pacific Studies, Education, Library/Information Studies, History, Journalism, Law, Literature & Language, Media Studies, Politics, Psychology, Sociology, Biology, Chemistry, Interdisciplinary (CIMS), Computing Science, Electrical & Electronics, Engineering, Engineering Technology, Earth Science, Geography, Geomatics, Geospatial Science, Information Systems, Land Use Planning, Marine Studies, Mathematics, Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, Physics, Real Estate, and Statistics.

Courses for Graduate (Masters) Level

Students can take graduate level courses in any of the following areas of study: Business Administration, Commerce, Computing and Information Systems, Education, Information Systems, and Law.

Housing and Meals

Exchange students will receive a meal stipend for 21 meals per week. Exchange students will be housed at the 9th Hall of Residence on-campus accommodation. Students are given an individual room with a single bed, studying table, reading lamp and a wardrobe. There are shared bathroom and toilet facilities.

Direct students are not provided with meals, however, they are provided with cooking facilities and a common kitchen shared by 3 or 4 other ISEP students in their housing accommodation. The accommodation also contains kitchen/cooking utensils such as microwave, oven, refrigerator, toaster, dishes and cooking pots/pans.

Other facilities provided to Direct students include: air conditioning, TV, lounge room, telephone (pre-paid cards have to be purchased in order to use the phone), laundry baskets, and reading lamp. There are shared bathroom and toilet facilities.

Student Activities

Direct and Exchange students will be taken on an Excursion at the beginning of the semester. Only Direct students will be taken on another towards the end of the semester. Excursions are usually to the beach and to a remote Fijian village for a night or two. The beach excursion consists of a day trip, which will include free bus transportation and lunch. The village trip usually takes 3-4 hours by bus. It will give students a real Pacific/Fijian experience, where students will see food cooked in the earth-oven or open fire and get a glimpse into the daily lifestyle of people in villages and their way of survival.

There are various activities that students can undertake during the semester, particularly sports related. USP holds an Annual Inter-tertiary Sports Event which usually takes place in the first semester. An email will be sent to all students via student webmail notifying them of this event and encouraging them to attend and participate. Students can also participate in the University Open Day cultural performances.

Profile

The University of the South Pacific is the premier institution of higher learning for the Pacific region, uniquely placed in a region of extraordinary physical, social and economic diversity. Established in 1968, USP is one of only two universities of its type in the world. It is jointly owned by the governments of 12 member countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Samoa. The University has campuses in all member countries. The main campus, Laucala, is in Fiji. The Alafua Campus in Samoa is where the School of Agriculture and Food Technology is situated, and the Emalus Campus in Vanuatu is the location for the School of Law.

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ISEP-Exchange programs allow students to participate in reciprocal exchanges with students at ISEP member institutions worldwide, while paying their home university tuition. Students attending US universities that are ISEP-Exchange members are eligible to apply for these programs at other international ISEP-Exchange member universities. Chances of placement vary by location.

ISEP-Direct programs allow students to enroll directly in a host institution abroad, instead of exchanging places with another student. Chances of placement are typically excellent for qualified applicants and some sites offer special academic programs and excursions. Students attending US universities that are either ISEP-Exchange members or ISEP-Direct members can participate in ISEP-Direct programs abroad.

Visit the ISEP Directory Page for more info
Visit the ISEP Home Page