Not-for-profit
Washington, DC, USA
https://www.aacu.org/initiatives/virtual-exchange-collaborative-online-international-learning
- Institutional Faculty and Administrators
- Undergraduate students
- Graduate students
All regions
2022
- A unique, facilitated VE program
- Leadership training for staff/admins
- Professional development for instructors
- Support for Research
- Funding
- Conferences, workshops and webinars
- English
- Spanish
- Japanese
AAC&U VE/COIL Webinar Series
(Recordings Available with Free Registration)
- VE/COIL in Action: Industry Partnerships and Global Competencies (June 18, 2025)
- Leveraging VE/COIL for Career Readiness and Workforce Development (May 21, 2025)
- Assessing Transformation: Evaluating Learning in VE/COIL Experiences (December 10, 2024)
- Global Goals, Local Impact: Integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into VE/COIL Projects (November 14, 2024)
- Bridging Divides: Internationalization at Home Amid Global Tensions (October 30, 2024)
... and more! [Access Full Archive]
VE/COIL Clinics
Whether you're just getting started or looking to refine an existing initiative, AAC&U's VE/COIL Clinics are designed to meet you where you are. These 3–5 day, flexible-format clinics focus on practical strategies for implementation, partnership development, assessment, and alignment with workforce priorities to help institutions scale VE/COIL with purpose. Sign Up for Updates.
The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) is a global membership organization dedicated to advancing the vitality and democratic purposes of undergraduate liberal education. Through our programs and events, publications and research, public advocacy and campus-based projects, AAC&U serves as a catalyst and facilitator for innovations that improve educational quality and equity and that support the success of all students. In addition to accredited public and private, two-year and four-year colleges and universities and state higher education systems and agencies throughout the United States, our membership includes degree-granting higher education institutions in more than twenty-five countries as well as other organizations and individuals. To learn more, visit www.aacu.org.
AAC&U supports the development and implementation of virtual exchange and collaborative online international learning programs and partnerships that help ensure equitable access to learning experiences that develop students’ global competencies.
These are the services we provide to the field:
Integrated into collaborative projects with global experts and partners, AAC&U’s VE/COIL Institute helps higher education institutions
- transform to deliver forward-thinking capabilities like VE/COIL at scale;
- increase investment and support for cutting-edge global education strategies;
- strengthen their global partnerships and networks;
- ensure equitable access to digital forms of global learning.
Collaboration is at the heart of VE/COIL. AAC&U works with a diverse range of partners and sponsors to co-develop and co-implement innovative VE/COIL projects and programs that serve the global higher education community.
Discussion of Costs and Fees
There is no cost to participate. However, institutions must apply to an initiative project to be considered. Campuses are encouraged to consider a diverse range of possible team members who represent important stakeholders for scaling and sustaining VE/COIL programs. Participating institutions will be required to establish the following designated roles:
- One teaching faculty/professor/instructor
- One instructional designer, COIL coordinator, or similar individual who will provide pedagogical support to instructors
- One international education administrator or similar individual who will support the proposed faculty partnership as well as develop a framework for introducing and scaling VE/COIL at the institutional level
Unique VE programs our organization has developed
Through institutional self-assessment, campus visits, peer networking, and mentored support, the AAC&U Institute on Virtual Exchange/Collaborative Online International Learning (VE/COIL) helps higher education institutions develop the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to pursue sustainable VE/COIL partnerships.
The Institute on VE/COIL is integrated into a broader initiative through which AAC&U collaborates with partners and sponsors to co-develop and co-implement innovative VE/COIL projects and programs that serve the global higher education community.
Current initiatives
Contribute to Our National Survey
AAC&U invites faculty, administrators, and global learning professionals to participate in a national survey on the integration of global learning across US higher education. Take the survey here.
These 3–5 day, flexible-format clinics focus on practical strategies for implementation, partnership development, assessment, and more to help institutions scale VE/COIL with purpose. Sign up for updates here.
US-UK Fulbright Global Challenges Teaching Awards
Open to faculty across the UK and US, selected grantees and supporting institutional teams participate in a year-long program supporting the development and delivery of virtual exchange partnerships using the COIL model.