A bilateral exchange agreement permits a regular exchange of cadets, and faculty. The Australian Defence Force Academy . VMI has maintained a long and diverse relationship with the Chinese Military Academy on Taiwan. The Bundeswehr Universities . A bilateral exchange agreement with the German Federal Armed Forces Universities at Munich and Hamburg allows up to six VMI Cadets to complete an entire academic year of study in Germany.
Students study in a civilian environment, and live in dormitories on campus.
Most courses are taught in German. Candidates are selected on the basis of merit by the Foreign Study Committee and normally are required to have completed two years of college German or demonstrate equivalent mastery to apply. Polytechnique VMI's relationship with L'Ecole Polytechnique may be traced back to the influence of Claudius Crozet, one of VMI's founding fathers and alumnus of L'Ecole Polytechnique. VMI is able to send Cadets to study at the prestigious French academy. Students interested in studying at L'Ecole Polytechnique must demonstrate mastery of French and have the highest academic credentials in engineering or the hard sciences.