COLEF Exchange Program

El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF) and San Diego State University (SDSU) have a long-term relationship. The most recent collaboration began in 2009 when SDSU and COLEF signed an agreement that allows students to engage in an academic exchange, where students from both institutions can take courses on either side of the border at no extra tuition cost.

For the Center for Latin American Studies at SDSU, this agreement allows our students to engage in transnational learning. Being a border city, our economy, society, and politics are intimately tied with those of Tijuana. Students engaging in this exchange have the unique opportunity to experience the border dynamics every week when they cross back and forth from Tijuana to San Diego and vice versa.

COLEF is located in Tijuana on the toll road to Las Playas de Rosarito, approximately 45 minutes from SDSU and about 20 minutes from the San Ysidro border crossing. COLEF is a prestigious Mexican research institute, with graduate programs in Economics, Urban Development, Demography, and a handful of other social sciences.

View the Fall 2019 Course Schedule. 

This program will be offered again in fall 2020.  If you are interested in participating in this exchange, please contact us at [email protected].

Who Can Apply

Students must be enrolled in a graduate program at SDSU, and must have good academic standing. Students participating in this exchange need to have adequate Spanish proficiency, and their passport must not expire during the duration of the course.

This program is open every semester to students from any graduate program.

Application Requirements