Study abroad in England with IFSA
Oxford
, England

University of Oxford, Hertford College Partnership

Program Overview

Centrally located Hertford College is one of Oxford's oldest colleges, but it has not let its history hold it back from embracing the modern. One of the first colleges to go co-educational in 1974, Hertford continues to welcome a diverse student body.

Hertford College is a great option for anthropology, art history, English, law, political science, sociology, and women and gender studies.

Details at a Glance

Application deadline

Fall: Dec. 15
Academic Year: Dec. 15
Spring: Dec. 15

Minimum GPA

3.75

Credit load

12 - 24

Housing

Residence Hall/Dormitory

Instruction language

English

Prerequisites

None

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Academics

Looking for specific classes? Explore CHART, our exclusive class database—if the Oxford Hertford College Program is preapproved at your institution, you’ll find classes recently taken by other IFSA students.

View Hertford College's list of available subjects on their Visiting Students page.

Students take one primary (major) and one secondary (minor) tutorial every term. Students are not permitted to receive extra credit by taking two primary tutorials in one term. Butler University will award students 8 U.S. semester credit hours for each primary tutorial and 4 U.S. semester credit hours for each secondary tutorial. No credit will be awarded for additional work undertaken even if the Oxford College approves it.

Butler University will issue 12 U.S. semester credit hours for the Michaelmas (fall) term, 24 U.S. semester credit hours for the Hilary/Trinity (spring) two-term program and 36 U.S. semester credit hours for the academic year at Oxford.

Science and math students may be required to attend University lectures or to take one or more short tutorials. Regardless of the number of tutorials or lectures required, science students will earn the same number of credits (12 U.S. semester credit hours per term) as other students.

Early Start
IFSA students studying at Hertford College for the fall term arrive in early September for a September Seminar in humanities or history. This month-long option helps students better understand the Oxford system in advance of the Michaelmas (fall) term, and it also awards an additional 4 U.S. semester credit hours for the fall.

Participants live in Hertford College housing during the September Seminar and throughout the remainder of the fall term.

Academic year students can also apply for the September Seminar (Early Start) in humanities or history.

The September Humanities Seminar will be interdisciplinary within the humanities and include Oxford faculty from classics, English literature, and modern languages. Students will attend a performance by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-on-Avon, as well as excursions to review primary source materials at various Oxford locations. Assessment will include a final research essay related to the topics taught in the seminar.

The History Seminar will examine political and social change between 1815-2015 in chronological order. Discussions in this seminar are intersectional and will provide stimulating and detailed exploration of British politics and culture from the 19th century to the current century. The assessment is either a single long research essay, or two smaller research essays related to the course material. The seminar is opened by a formal dinner at Hertford and finalizes with a traditional English cream tea.

Fall students will earn a total of 16 U.S. semester credit hours for the fall.

Lab & Field Trip Fees
Please review syllabi and course materials when registering for direct-enroll classes. Certain classes may have a one-off lab or field trip fee disclosed in the syllabus or during the first meeting of the class. These fees are not included in your IFSA program fee. You will be responsible for these fees, whether they are billed and paid by IFSA or billed to you.

Visiting students can choose from modules in humanities, social or political sciences, human sciences, and mathematics. Organized tutorials for visiting students in the natural sciences, management, or business are not available

Your tutorial topics should be limited to no more than two subjects, and those subjects should be related. For instance, the tutors reviewing your application will look more favorably at a tutorial request form that has choices limited to politics and history departments. They would not be as impressed with a tutorial request form that lists choices in chemistry, economics and art history.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Application Deadline
The application deadline is Dec. 15 of the preceding year for Fall Term, Academic Year, and Spring Term for all University of Oxford programs.

Eligibility

  • You must be at least 18 years of age. Students under 18 may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.
  • You must be currently attending or recently graduated from a U.S. or Canadian community college, technical college, two-year college, four-year college, or four-year university.
  • Admission to Oxford colleges is highly competitive. Students typically study abroad at Oxford their junior year, having completed two (2) years of study at their home institution before the start of the Oxford term. Oxford colleges may consider an applicant with just one (1) year of completed study, but those students will be competing with students who have completed greater study in their specific subject area. A student with less than two years of completed study may be limited to first- and second-year classes.

Recommendation Letters
Your application to this program will require two (2) academic letters of recommendation on home institution letterhead.

Visa Requirement

  • Fall or Spring Term: Not required for U.S. or Canadian citizens. A visa may be required if you are a citizen of another country.
  • Academic Year: A visa is required for all students.

TRANSCRIPT
Upon completion of your program, IFSA will send an official Butler University transcript to your home university with your coursework converted to the U.S. semester credit hour system. You will also have access to an unofficial transcript in your IFSA Student Portal. The transcript reflects courses taken, credits attempted, and grades earned during your term abroad. This service is included in your study abroad program at no additional cost. See our Transcripts page for more information.

Excursions

Activities and excursions are designed to pull you into the communities you visit and encourage cultural connections of every kind. There’s no extra fee to participate in these optional outings—everything is included in your program fee.

Below are examples from previous terms; outings may be different for your program. We’ll make every effort to run them all, but sometimes things we can’t our control, such as local regulations and health protocols, get in the way. As result, we cannot guarantee activities and excursions.

Activities

  • London Pandemics–Past and Present: This event will engage you with both an historic overview and a contemporary look at concepts of community health and global health, with a particular focus on London and the pandemic. You will attend a guest lecture at the IFSA London Flagship, followed by the John Snow Cholera Tour. This tour will take you to the nearby streets of Soho to visit important sites in the story of Dr. Snow and the cholera outbreak in 1854.
  • London Statue Walk: This walking tour includes stops at some of London’s most iconic statues as well as some of its most obscure, weaving in historical, cultural, literary, and political threads as it seeks to put the past into dialogue with the present.
  • Homelessness in London–A Dialogue: This event will explore the realities of homelessness in London from three perspectives. First, you will participate in a dialogue with guest speakers followed by a tour of Central London developed, curated, and delivered by vulnerably housed individuals through Unseen Tours.
Excursions
  • The Uncomfortable Walking Tour: This tour is dedicated to raising awareness about the “uncomfortable” aspects of history. Tours focus on a specific theme and ask questions aimed at provoking new ways of seeing Oxford’s city landscape and history. Students will engage with the politics of memory in the city whilst uncovering histories of empire, class divides and gender discrimination, highlighting how these legacies have left an enduring impact on our modern lives.
  • Visit to Oxford Castle & Prison: Explore the 1,000-year history of Oxford Castle & Prison. You will take a step back in time with costumed tour guides, bringing fascinating stories back to life. Engage with tales of Empress Matilda or the fate of Mary Blandy, one of the prisons’ most famous criminals. You can touch the stones where Oxford University is rumoured to have begun and stand in the birthplace of King Arthur.
  • The Pitt Rivers Museum Tour: Go behind the scenes at one of Oxford’s most popular attractions, famous for its period atmosphere and outstanding collections from many cultures around the world, past and present. Receive a private tour of the museum founded in 1884 by Lieutenant General Augustus Pitt Rivers, who donated approximately 22,000 items to be displayed. The collection has now grown to 500,000 items, many of which have been donated by travellers, scholars, and missionaries from across the world.
  • Cotswolds Villages and Blenheim Palace Day Trip: The Cotswolds are designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The famous picturesque villages of mellow honey-colored stone, gentle hills, peaceful pastures, and winding rivers offer a contrasting backdrop to engage with stories about the bloody battles and violent skirmishes that took place during the English Civil War. Next up is a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage site Blenheim Palace, home to the 12th Duke of Marlborough and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.
  • Oxford Regatta Course River Cruise: Explore Oxford University’s famous regatta course on a Thames River sightseeing cruise. Hop aboard your sightseeing vessel in the heart of Oxford and cruise out onto the famous waterway. You’ll learn more about the city’s rich history from a different perspective, while sharing the waters with punts, university boats, rowing eights, and cruisers. The river cruise offers a chance for sightings of native river wildlife along the banks too.

Housing and Meals

Housing

Residence Hall/Dormitory

Meals

Some Included

Details

IFSA students are given a meal credit with a set amount of money that they may use for any meal in the Hertford dining halls. The meal credit is calculated at approximately one meal per day.

Dates and Fees

Term

Term begins

Term ends

Program costs

Application deadline

Fall 2023

August 31, 2023

December 2, 2023

$26,995

Passed

Academic Year 2023-2024

September 29, 2023

June 15, 2024

$60,990

Passed

Academic Year (Early Start) 2023-2024

August 31, 2023

June 15, 2024

$64,090

Passed

Spring 2024

Early Jan. 2024

June 15, 2024

$39,995 (estimated)

Passed

Fall 2024

Late Aug. 2024

Mid-Dec. 2024

$26,995 (estimated)

Dec. 15, 2023

Academic Year 2024-2025

Late Sept. 2024

Mid-June 2025

$60,990 (estimated)

Dec. 15, 2023

Academic Year (Early Start) 2024-2025

Late Aug. 2024

Mid-June 2025

$64,090 (estimated)

Dec. 15, 2023

Spring 2025

Early Jan. 2025

Mid-June 2025

$39,995 (estimated)

Dec. 15, 2023

Term

Fall 2023

Term begins

August 31, 2023

Term ends

December 2, 2023

Program costs

$26,995

Application deadline

Passed

Term

Academic Year 2023-2024

Term begins

September 29, 2023

Term ends

June 15, 2024

Program costs

$60,990

Application deadline

Passed