How the AIMS Programme Lets ASEAN Students Study a Semester in Another Member Country

What the AIMS Programme Is

The ASEAN International Mobility for Students (AIMS) Programme lets you study a semester, and sometimes a full year, at a university in another ASEAN country while staying enrolled at your home university. SEAMEO RIHED, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization's regional center for higher education, coordinates the program across participating countries. The idea traces back to a 2009 pilot between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, which expanded over the following years into the current regional network of about 10 member countries and roughly 90 participating universities, according to SEAMEO RIHED .

AIMS runs on a home-based model. You do not transfer to the host university. You stay registered at your home university, spend a term abroad taking approved courses, then bring the credits and grades back to finish your original degree on schedule.

Who Can Apply

Eligibility rules come from your home university, not from a single AIMS-wide standard, since each participating institution sets its own nomination criteria and course fields covered. Common requirements across AIMS partner universities include:

• Enrollment as a full-time student in good academic standing at a participating home university.

• A minimum number of semesters already completed, so first-year students are usually not eligible yet.

• A field of study that matches one of the disciplines your home university has an AIMS agreement for. AIMS started in specific fields such as food science, hospitality, tourism and international business, and has broadened since, though coverage still varies by university.

• A language requirement set by the host university and program, most often English proficiency.

Because eligibility is decided at university level, start by asking your home university's international office, sometimes called the IRO or International Relations Office, whether your program has an active AIMS agreement before you plan around it.

Participating Countries and Universities

AIMS operates as a consortium model. Your home university needs an existing agreement with a specific host university for a specific field of study, rather than a single open application to AIMS as a whole. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand remain the founding core, with the network extended to other ASEAN countries and selected partner universities outside the region over time. Your home international office keeps the current list of active partner universities and available fields, since new agreements get added and some lapse.

How Funding Works

AIMS mobility is not free travel. The general pattern across participating universities is that you keep paying tuition to your home university, or the host waives tuition under the exchange agreement, while you cover your own travel and living costs, sometimes offset by a scholarship or living allowance funded by the host country's government or host university. Funding terms differ by country and by university, so get the exact cost breakdown, in writing, from your home international office before you commit. Do not assume a scholarship is included by default.

Some AIMS host countries fund a portion of exchange students through their own government ministry, since the program grew out of government-to-government cooperation rather than a single centralized AIMS scholarship fund. This is part of why funding varies so much by host country, and why your international office, not a general AIMS webpage, has the accurate answer for your specific route.

AIMS Compared to a Direct University Exchange

Some universities also run their own bilateral exchange agreements outside AIMS, sometimes with the same partner institutions. The practical difference is coordination. AIMS exchanges run through SEAMEO RIHED's shared framework and reporting, which gives your home university a track record of how the arrangement worked for past cohorts. A direct bilateral exchange outside AIMS might offer a field of study AIMS does not yet cover, but comes with less standardized support. Ask your international office which type of agreement your options fall under, since the paperwork and funding sources can differ.

Application Steps

1. Confirm your home university has an active AIMS agreement covering your field of study.

2. Check the eligibility criteria your home university sets, such as GPA, semesters completed, and language requirement.

3. Submit your nomination through your home international office. Host universities generally accept students only through this university-to-university nomination, not direct student applications.

4. Once nominated, apply to the host university with the documents it requests: transcript, language proof, and a study plan listing the courses you intend to take.

5. Confirm in advance, in writing, which courses will transfer back to your home degree and how many credits each is worth.

What Happens to Your Credits

Credits earned during your AIMS exchange transfer back to your home university through the ASEAN Credit Transfer System (ACTS) if the host is an AUN member university, or through your home university's standard credit transfer policy if it is not. The host university sends your certificate and transcript to your home international office, which then records the credits against your degree plan. Confirm your course-by-course credit mapping before you leave, not after you return, so you do not lose a semester's worth of progress over a mismatch you catch too late.