In considering the MIT goals for global education, the Cambridge-MIT Exchange Program (CME) is a stellar example of how it is possible to give some of our students in science and engineering a meaningful experience abroad without hindering their time to degree. During the past seven years, 196 MIT students from 14 departments spent their junior year studying at Cambridge University. CME has brought value to our students because it stretches them beyond their comfort zones through a different pedagogy and different curricular emphases within the context of a first-rank university. It forces our students to take a more proactive approach to their learning and helps produce some of the leadership experiences that we want our students to have. CME students serve as an example to other MIT students; the program serves as a model for other universities.

In addition, the CME has proven to be a significant experimental opportunity for our faculty to observe and test new methods of teaching and learning. This value continues and there is much unfinished work in this area. Thus it has brought institutional value to us.

Finally, the CME stands as an example of the twenty-first-century partnership between two great universities that was heralded when the Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI) was established. The program forged strong ties between Cambridge and MIT faculties and, particularly during the first years of the alliance, provided our faculties a mutual point of concern and interest that sparked other interests. The student exchange has created a natural and deep bond between the schools, and is an important lesson in how we might approach alliances with other great universities.

Within the context of principles for study abroad exchanges outlined in this paper, it is clear that the Cambridge-MIT Exchange is a good fit. As we think about the small number of additional exchanges we may want to consider, CME will serve as a valuable model. In light of the value of CME to MIT and its students, we have committed to continuing the CME Program for the next five-year period.

Details of the CME program can be found at: web.mit.edu/cmi/ue/cme-mit/mit-home.html - junior_year.