Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico City)

Universidad Iberoamericana Logo

Universidad Iberoamericana is an exchange destination for University College Utrecht students, located in Mexico City, Mexico. Iberoamericana is renowned for its Science and Technology degrees. Students who enjoy learning some more about Spanish language and culture may be particularly interested. 

Please note: Students have the possibility of doing an internship during (or after) their exchange semester. 

Webpages
Number of places available

2 students per semester

Academic calendar

Fall Semester: Early August - Early December
Spring Semester: Early January - Mid-May

Language of instruction

This destination has a language of instruction other than English. This means that you need to have at least a language proficiency level of B2 Spanish. This language requirement is partly for your own protection, so you can take courses at the same level as you do at UCU, and partly because we believe it allows you to have an experience abroad that is more immersive, enriching and culturally valuable to you.

Accepted Proof of Language Proficiency.

  • EXELEAA exam:  Minimum score of 64 (equivalent to B2). Scores between 39 and 63 (equivalent to B1) require mandatory enrollment in an intensive Spanish course during the semester (8hrs/week, equivalent to 13 Ibero credits).
  • SIELE exam: Minimum scores required in reading (178), listening (164), writing (167), and (176) speaking sections for B2 equivalency. Scores between B1 and B2 require mandatory enrollment in the intensive Spanish course, especially if two or more categories fall below the B2 level.
  • LanguageCert: Minimum score of 60 in reading, listening, and writing (equivalent to B2). Scores between 40 and 59 (equivalent to B1) require mandatory enrollment in the intensive Spanish course.

Please note that a letter from your Spanish teacher at UCU will not be accepted as proof of proficiency. There are English courses available At Universidad Iberoamericana, but the likelihood of oversubscription means you might have to take courses in Spanish.

Course offerings

You can search for courses in general on the Iberoamericana website. However, not all those courses are available each semester, so you will have to go to their website to check whether your preferred courses are available the next semester (will be announced 6 weeks in advance before classes start). Available classes are announced here and here.

Course levels

Courses have levels varying from 1st (beginner) to 5th (advanced-master) years. 

Credit system

Most academic semester courses at the Iberoamericana are worth 8 academic credits and are taught 4 hours per week. A full UCU course load (30 ECTS) corresponds to 5 courses of 8 Ibero credits / 6 ECTS.

Grade system

Iberoamericana uses a scale from 10 to 1, with 10 as the highest grade and 6 as the lowest passing grade. Below you can see how this translates to UCU grades:

Iberoamericana

grade point

UCU

1

0,0

F

2

0,0

F

3

0,0

F

4,0

0,0

F

4,5

0,7

D-

5,0

1,0

D

5,5

1,3

D+

6,0

2,0

C

6,5

2,3

C+

7,0

3,0

B

7,5

3,3

B+

8,0 – 10

4,0

A

Housing

There are no dorm rooms on the campus, but you can arrange your housing through the university. Iberoamericana housing office helps students to find accommodation, either through the supervised Homestay programme (see here) or by advising them when they find apartments. They strongly recommend renting an apartment only after you have had the opportunity to visit it and negotiate a price. 

Costs

The total costs for a semester are estimated to be around $3,250 (€2750), including housing, transportations, books and supplies and meals. These costs are around $3,950 (€3400) when your housing is arranged through the Homestay program. The costs for housing with a host family is between $1,500-2,500 (€1300-2150) per term. These prices depend on the neighbourhood where you will reside and if you have a single or double room, for example.

Orientation

There is a 3-day orientation session for new visiting students: a general orientation, registration for classes and such activities, a few days during the week before classes start. Iberoamericana also offers a buddy program: each foreign student who is interested in participating gets assigned a Mexican Iberoamericana student, who will be the “buddy” of the foreign student, helping him/her during the semester.

Situation

Ibero is located in Mexico City, one of the largest cities in the world and the capital of Mexico. The campus is in the hills on the edge of the city, which is about 20 kilometers from the city center. The city has many tourist destinations, such as colonial architecture. Click here for more information.  

Mexico city has a high crime rate and certain areas should not be entered by tourists. However, with precautions it is a pleasant destination. The climate is subtropical and therefore doesn’t change much with the seasons. It is generally between 10 and 30 degrees. The summer is wetter than the winter. 

Student life

The university has about 11,000 students. The university has a campus which hosts all academic buildings, as well as several sports facilities. 

Ibero has a wide offer of extracurricular activities that include rugby, lacrosse, and tennis, among many other sports and photography, ballet and salsa dancing in the cultural front. Visiting students can participate in any cultural and sports activities and workshops at the university. They are also allowed to join the representative teams of the university. 

Student experiences

Students have had good experiences at Iberoamericana. Some students have indicated that the academic quality is a little lower than at UCU. However, the courses taught in Spanish seem to be of higher quality. Teachers are accommodating towards exchange students and sometimes allow them to write their essays in English, even when the course is taught in Spanish. Students would say that life is cheaper than in the Netherlands, however, finding affordable housing can be quite challenging. The area around the university is very expensive, which means most students chose to live further out. Public transport is affordable but not very efficient.

More information

For information about the requirements for studying abroad, the application procedure and more, go to UCU's Study abroad page. 

You can browse through all UCU exchange destinations and UU exchange destinations in the exchange catalog.