Any student in good standing at an ISLE member school is eligible to apply for the program. (Applicants from non-member schools will be considered on a space-available basis.) Preference is given to students who can adjust to, empathize with, and reap academic benefits from intensive exposure to a radically different social, cultural, and material environment.

The comprehensive fee for the fall semester of ISLE is one half of the annual cost of tuition, room, and board at the student's home institution. This fee covers tuition, room, and board for 18 weeks in Sri Lanka, airfare from the U.S. to Sri Lanka, program travel in Sri Lanka, textbooks and most reading materials. Students who receive financial aid in the U.S. can apply this aid to study on ISLE.

Following the conclusion of the program those students who decide to travel to other parts of South or Southeast Asia can make their own arrangements through travel agencies in Kandy.