As soon as a preliminary program calendar is available, it will appear below. However, this calendar is subject to change. Please do not make independent travel arrangements (including visits from family or friends) before you arrive on-site, receive any calendar updates from the IES Abroad Center staff during orientation, and finalize your course registration. Remember that you will not be excused from academic obligations, including final exams or required IES Abroad events, in order to travel independently. You can easily make personal travel plans once on-site! View the full program...

Book your flight to arrive at the Rabat-Sale Airport (RBA) on the official arrival date. Please make sure to collect all of your luggage before exiting the airport to locate the staff. If any of your luggage has gone missing in transit, please make the appropriate claim with airline/airport authorities before exiting the airport. If needed, the IES Abroad Rabat staff will help you track and follow-up with your missing luggage. They can also help you arrange transportation to claim your luggage if it arrives at a later time. After retrieving luggage you'll go through passport control and...

In addition to your virtual orientation course, you will participate in on-site orientation sessions when you arrive in Rabat. Upon arrival, you will also receive an orientation manual that will answer most questions that you may still have after carefully reading the following information. Orientation is a vital part of settling into your new environment, culture, surroundings, and program. Therefore, it is very important that you do not miss any part of orientation. It is essential that you arrive on time for orientation, come prepared with all the necessary documents, participate in all...

IES Abroad Rabat locates homestays for you to experience the unique and exceptional experience of living with a Moroccan family. Homestays provide an ideal environment for learning about Moroccan culture and improving your Arabic and/or French language skills and Moroccans are known for their generosity and hospitality. IES Abroad locates homestay families who are eager to get to know you and teach you about Moroccan culture and cuisine. With a homestay family, many students find that their language skills develop much more quickly and they start to "live like the locals" much more easily. In...

You are required to enroll in 15-19 credits per semester. Your program offers six ways to earn academic credit: IES Abroad Intensive Introduction to Colloquial Moroccan Arabic (required, 1 credit) IES Abroad Modern Standard Arabic course (required, 6 credits) IES Abroad Colloquial Moroccan Arabic course (optional, 3 credits) English- or French-taught IES Abroad area studies courses (optional, 3 credits) French- or Arabic-taught courses at the Université Mohammed V (optional, credits vary) Internship Placement and Seminar (optional, 3 credits) Classes are scheduled five days each week and...

Arabic Language Instruction Please bear in mind that there are two varieties of Arabic in Morocco: Colloquial Moroccan Arabic (CMA) - CMA, or also commonly known as Darija is the spoken Arabic which Moroccans use for daily conversation and communication. Darija is considered a mixed language because it arose through the fusion of classical Arabic and Berber and includes a number of French and Spanish influences. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) - Known as the language of the media (e.g., Al Jazeera), books, newspapers, and research. Arabs use this dialect to communicate if they are from different...

To complement your IES Abroad courses, you will have the option of enrolling in courses at our partner universities. We strongly encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity. It will not only be a unique educational experience, but it will also provide the opportunity to add another perspective of student life in Morocco. You can also improve your language abilities and meet local students! The classroom atmosphere might be entirely different from what you experience on your home campus. Please keep in mind that you will have to be able to adapt to different classroom structures and...

Approximately one month before the program starts you will be sent a link to a Course Preference Survey. This survey helps the Center staff get a better estimate of which courses the student group for that term is most interested in taking. Based on the results from this survey, a narrowed down list of courses will be available for course registration on-site. Therefore, when completing this survey, please select your course choices as accurately as possible as these results will determine which courses will or won't be offered during your time in Rabat. Please obtain course approval from your...

Please note that internship placement options could be limited and/or virtual. If you require an internship as part of your semester abroad, please reach out to your IES Abroad Program Advisor as soon as possible. Internships offer a unique, real-world experience combined with professional skill building and cultural immersion. IES Abroad Rabat offers a variety of internship opportunities for students with two or more semesters of French or Arabic. Placements may be available for students with no previous study of French or Arabic, but placement options are limited and cannot be guaranteed in...