Clarkson University

Clarkson University

Clarkson University was founded in 1896 and is a private research university with around 4,300 students enrolled in 60 graduate and undergraduate programs.  It is organised so that the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise.

Academic Highlights

Clarkson has four schools – Institute for a Sustainable Environment, School of Arts and Sciences, School of Business and School of Engineering. It has developed an international reputation in the fields of Advanced Materials Science, Biotechnology, Environment & Energy, Entrepreneurship and Global Supply Chain Management.

Location

The town of Potsdam is a small village of 9,500 people in northern New York. The village, situated in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, is near the St. Lawrence River near the Canadian border and about 90 minutes from Ottawa. The campus is located on 260 wooded hectares and is adjacent to the two and a half million-hectare Adirondack Park that provides many opportunities to ski, hike, cave, kayak and canoe.

Did you know?

American film director Wes Craven was a humanities professor at Clarkson University and used a home in upstate New York as the inspiration for his film A Nightmare on Elm Street. To honour his inspiration, the town in the movie was named Madstop - Potsdam spelled backwards.

Language of Instruction

English

Program Duration

1 semester, 2 semesters

Academic Level

Undergraduate, Postgraduate

Minimum Result Required60% WAM
Previous Round Cut-off (WAM % or GPA)60% WAM

Anticipated Places in Semester 1, 2027

6-9 places

Exchange Availability

Green

Eligible Monash Campus

Monash Australia, Monash Malaysia

Agreement Scope

Faculty of Arts
Faculty of Business and Economics
Faculty of Engineering
Faculty of Information Technology Faculty of Science

Handbook/Catalogue

Clarkson's course catalogue

Undergraduate classes are numbered 100-499, Graduate Level classes are numbered 500-699, and MBA level classes are 600's.

Academic Restrictions

  • Undergraduate majors are available to exchange students from the Arts & Sciences (including Computer Science), Business, Engineering and Institute for a Sustainable Environment programs.
  • Graduate programs are available in Business (MBA) and Science and Engineering.
  • For undergraduates, a minimum of 12 US credits must be taken to maintain full-time status, with a maximum of 18 US credits.
  • For postgraduates, a minimum of 9 US credits must be taken to maintain full-time status, with a maximum of 15 US credits.

Full-time Credit Load Equivalents

Semester

Min. 18 Monash points

Max. 24 Monash points

12 credits - UG

15 credits - UG

9 credits - PG

12 credits - PG

Year

Min. 36 Monash points

Max. 48 Monash points

24 credits - UG

30 credits - UG

18 credits - PG

24 credits - PG

Academic Calendar

Clarkson Fall Semester (Monash semester 2): late August – late December
Clarkson Spring Semester (Monash semester 1): mid-January – mid-May

Clarkson's Academic Calendar

Accounting

American Studies

Anthropology

Air, space, and cyberspace studies

Bioethics

Biology

Chemistry

Chinese language

Communications and media studies

Computer science

Data science

Economics

Education

English

Engineering

Engineering - aerospace

Engineering - chemical

Engineering - civil

Engineering – electrical / computer systems

Engineering - materials science

Engineering - mechanical

Environmental science

Film studies

Finance

French language

Geology

German language

History

Humanities

Information systems

Information technology

Latin language

Library services

Literature

Mathematics

Marketing

Management

Physical education

Physics

Philosophy

Political science

Psychology

Russian

Sociology

Spanish language

Statistics and probability

  

Note

  • The listed disciplines are not necessarily exhaustive and other fields of study might also be available at the institution.
  • Approval to study particular subjects at any institution is always at the discretion of the departmental/discipline and faculty advisers in your managing faculty(ies) and subject to available places at the host.

Accommodation

Living on campus is guaranteed and mandatory for exchange students, though graduate students aged 25 years and older may be exempt. Most students live in self-catered apartment-style housing with Clarkson students.

Clarkson offers additional advice on residence.

Visas

International exchange students studying in the U.S. must obtain the J-1 Exchange Visitor’s visa before leaving their home country. The application process requires a personal interview at the Consulate.

For more information on visas, please refer to the the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Australia here, and the U.S. Visa Information Service for Australia here.

Clarkson offers some guidance on J1 visas.

Health and insurance

A student on a J-1 visa must maintain adequate health insurance coverage during their stay in the U.S. Failure to maintain adequate insurance coverage is a violation of J-1 status.

Clarkson provides further information on the health insurance requirement for J-1 visa holders.

When travelling on a Monash Abroad approved program, you are automatically covered under the Monash University Student Travel Insurance policy. This will provide cover to and from your exchange.

Orientation and extra-curricular 

The International Centre coordinates a mandatory two-part Orientation program for all incoming international students for the fall & spring terms.

Clarkson has a vibrant campus life, including clubs and activitiesfraternities and sororitiesathletics and plenty of activities.

Cost of living

Clarkson offers guidance on estimated expenses for exchange students.

Funding

For information about funding available to support study on exchange overseas, see the Financial Information page on the Monash Abroad website.

To begin your application and study plan, click the button below.

Apply here

Have you been to Clarkson University and want to share your experience? 
Let us know about your exchange via this survey form and your testimonial could be shown here!

Chang Zhao
Master of Business
Semester 1, 2017
Studied: Business units

Study Experience

Life in Clarkson was so enjoyable, with interesting events always going on. One very useful course I had in Clarkson was Negotiation. It's an MBA course, and I would highly recommend it.

Culture

Potsdam is a very small town, and the people in the town are super nice, which is quite different from big cities.

Benefits of going on exchange

There are courses at Clarkson not available at Monash, and the way of teaching is quite engaging as well. Professors are very nice and they care about every student.

Career Benefits

I gained knowledge and experiences that were different to those from my Australian university experiences. These help me to understand things in a more global way.

Money and Budgeting

Rent books instead of buying them, and cook for yourself instead of eating food on campus.

Top tips

  • Go to events and make new friends.
  • Go travelling over the holidays if you can.