Remote Student Exchange

The Remote Student Exchange (RSE) initiative is pleased to invite university professors and instructors to open their existing courses in the fall semester 2021 to remote guest students from low- and middle income countries.

RSE began in the spring of 2021 as a volunteer initiative that allows students from low- and middle-income countries to participate remotely in online university classes around the world. Professors can decide to open their existing online classes to these guest students, who participate informally and free of charge. In return, the guest students enrich the learning experience of the regular students with novel and diverse international perspectives. Professors can decide how many guest students they wish to host, and which prerequisites they must fulfill. 

In the fall semester 2021, the International Economic Association (IEA) and RSE have partnered to provide funding for professors and/or teaching assistants to evaluate the work of the guest students, so that guest students can receive a letter of participation and a grade from the professor at the end of the course. In addition, the President of the IEA will provide a congratulatory letter to students in these courses. These grades and letters do not amount to official university course credit. 

Professors who wish to welcome guest students to their planned courses in the fall semester 2021 can register their course on https://remotestudentexchange.org, or simply email johannes.haushofer@remotestudentexchange.org with an indication of their interest. A team from RSE and IEA will vet participating courses for quality, make a selection of courses which receive IEA sponsorship, and prepare selected courses for student intake.

Professors who do not wish to evaluate guest students or provide letters of participation can nevertheless offer their courses on the RSE website. Guest students then participate without receiving grades or letters of participation. 

Questions can be addressed to Johannes Haushofer (johannes.haushofer@remotestudentexchange.org) or Dani Rodrik (dani.rodrik@iea-world.org).