Studying agriculture or wine in Latin America often means choosing between staying at one university for the full degree or using one of the region's exchange networks to spend a semester at a partner institution abroad. The best-known structure for doing this across public universities is AUGM, the Asociación de Universidades Grupo Montevideo, which runs a mobility scheme open to agronomy and related science students across several countries.
This page explains how that kind of academic mobility works in practice, what names and acronyms to look for, and what questions to ask before committing to an exchange. For related coverage, see our news section and our page on international cooperation meetings in Latin America and the Caribbean.
AUGM and the ESCALA mobility program
AUGM, founded in Montevideo in 1991, groups public, autonomous universities across Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay; by 2019 it counted around forty member institutions. Its student mobility structure, known as ESCALA, runs four separate tracks: undergraduate students, teaching staff, postgraduate students, and university managers and administrators. The undergraduate track (sometimes referred to as PEEG) lets a student spend a semester at a university in a different member country to complete part of their home degree's required coursework, typically with tuition waived at the host institution and support toward living costs and travel. The postgraduate track (PEEPg) works similarly for master's and doctoral students, with academic recognition of the work completed abroad built into the agreement between universities.
Because each member university funds and administers its own share of the scheme, offerings and open places change from one call to the next, so current students should check with their home university's international relations office for the specific terms in effect.
A note on "Pasaporte Global"
If you encountered the name "Pasaporte Global" in connection with international study, it is worth being precise about what that refers to: it is the name of a program run by a cultural exchange foundation in Córdoba, Argentina, aimed at teenagers aged 15 to 17, covering travel preparation, documentation and safety rather than university-level academic exchange. It is not a university mobility program for agronomy or wine students. If you are researching options specifically for viticulture or oenology study abroad, AUGM's ESCALA scheme and individual university agreements are the more relevant structures to look into.
What else exists for wine-specific exchange
Beyond region-wide networks like AUGM, some universities with strong wine programs run their own bilateral exchange and double-degree agreements. These are usually narrower than ESCALA (often a single partner institution per agreement) but can lead to recognized joint qualifications rather than just a semester abroad.
| Option | Scope | Typical outcome |
|---|---|---|
| AUGM ESCALA (undergraduate) | Across member countries in South America | One semester abroad, credits toward home degree |
| AUGM ESCALA (postgraduate) | Across member countries in South America | Recognized study period for master's/doctoral work |
| University-specific bilateral agreements | Two named institutions | Can include double-degree outcomes |
| "Pasaporte Global" (Córdoba foundation program) | Pre-university, ages 15-17 | Preparation for future study abroad, not academic credit |
Checklist before applying for an exchange
- Confirm you meet the eligibility rules of both your home university and the AUGM scheme, which generally requires being a regular, enrolled undergraduate or postgraduate student in good standing.
- Ask your home faculty in writing which courses taken abroad will transfer as credit before you commit, rather than assuming automatic recognition.
- Check the language of instruction at the host university; most AUGM member institutions teach in Spanish or Portuguese.
- Confirm what costs the program actually covers (tuition, lodging, travel) versus what you will need to fund yourself.
- Apply through your home university's international relations office, since AUGM mobility calls are administered institution by institution, not through a central public portal.
Sources used for this page include coverage of AUGM's ESCALA program through member-university international relations offices, and background on VitaGLOBAL's historical consortium structure, which included institutions in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and other countries working on viticulture and oenology curricula before the project closed.
