During the process of preparing for study abroad, many students focus primarily on choosing a destination, a time, and a program.
However, we as study abroad advisors always encourage students to focus on the “study” part of studying abroad.
Weird, right?
One of the many reasons that students give for why they don’t want to consider studying abroad during college is because of the long-held belief that studying abroad will result in a delayed graduation date.
This isn’t true!
One of the ways to mitigate this is to get your potential courses approved and annotated prior to departure, as opposed to working it out once you return.
Before I delve deeper into this (and why the process is such a pain to get through), I need to give a bit of a disclaimer. Some institutions do not allow students to receive credit at all for courses outside of approved programs or partners.
While you can certainly still participate on a non-approved program and not receive credit, if you are in need of certain credits or courses abroad, be sure you can earn credit with your chosen program. Prior to applying to a program, talk to your study abroad advisor (or counselor) to see if your program is eligible for credit.
Related: Types of Study Abroad Programs
If your chosen program or school is on your college’s approved program list (or you can petition to have it approved) and your courses are eligible for credit, these are the typical next steps in the process:
Meet with your study abroad advisor about your program (or program interests).
The study abroad advisor for your program will be able to provide you with some insights, like which programs will suit your academic needs. Your advisor can also talk to you about the upcoming pre-approval process that is specific to your program and university.
Also, your advisor will let you know early if your desired courses abroad are eligible for credit. A lot of universities will not accept credit for specific types of courses if they do not fulfill academic courses available at the school.
(You will be disappointed to learn that many cooking courses won’t transfer back.)
By meeting with your study abroad advisor in advance, you will manage realistic expectations for your courses abroad.
Related: When to Start Planning for Study Abroad
Understand how the credit from your program or school will transfer back.
Once you are certain that you can receive credit, it is important to understand what kind of credits they are. Typically, your courses will either be eligible for transfer credit or resident credit.
Each university awards credit taken at other institutions in different ways. For the most part, transfer credits will be on your transcript but will not affect your overall GPA. However, transfer credits are applied to your overall credits towards graduation.
Resident credits, on the other hand, will generally be factored into your overall GPA. They will also be applied to the overall credits for your degree.
At this point, you need to figure out if your classes can be taken pass / fail, need to be taken for a letter grade, or can be audited.
You don’t want to be abroad and figure out the answer to this question!
Determine how many credits you need to take while abroad.
For the purpose of financial aid and staying on track for graduation, you will need to maintain your full-time student status while you are abroad.
Different countries use different credit systems. I mean, why would anything be uniform and simple?.
You need to check in advance how many courses equate a full-time status abroad.
Your host school or program provider will be able to tell you in advance how many courses you need to take in order to maintain this status. However, your study abroad advisor will be able to guide you on how the credits will come back.
For example, for some European universities, one course is worth 5 ECTS credits. Some US institutions accept this as 3 US credits.
Research available courses at your program destination.
Now that you have figured out the credit details, it’s time to look at the available courses! Figure out what courses are available at your program destination.
Are they in your major or minor, or will they possibly fulfill general elective credits?
Are courses available to visiting students?
Do you have to have a major declared in a specific field in order to enroll in certain courses?
Also, if your home university has a transfer credit database, research some of the courses that other students have taken at your host institution.
This will give you a good idea about what courses will be for credit, and which courses are relevant to your interests and academic goals.
Review your graduation requirements on your student portal. Or, meet with your academic advisor about your graduation requirements.
With graduation being the ultimate goal of any college experience, make sure that your study abroad program will support your academic goals.
It is, after all, “study” abroad.
Meeting with your academic advisor should help you determine if your program will allow you to stay on track, how many courses you can take for your major while abroad, which requirements you are not able to fulfill, how many electives you can take, and more.
This would also be a good time to ask about any registration requirements you need to remember. You should also ask about what you will need to communicate while you are away. Remember, the most successful study abroad students maintain great communication!
Related: 7 Habits of Successful Study Abroad Students
Obtain the course pre-approval form and complete the pre-approval process.
Almost all colleges and universities have a course pre-approval form for study abroad students. It is a binding document, and any changes to it need to be communicated to almost everyone who signed it.
You are expected to list all of the courses they intend to take abroad.
(…Or at least provide a list of courses that *might* be available during the semester abroad.)
Students should also provide some alternate courses as back-up, in the event that the ideal courses are not available. When requesting the courses to be reviewed, it is helpful (and sometimes required) to provide the course syllabi with your course pre-approval form.
At all of the places I have worked or studied abroad, the pre-approval form entailed a combination or selection of the following signatures:
- Study abroad advisor
- Academic advisor
- College / department advisor
- Dean or department chair
- Student
- Registrar
Also, to make this process less obnoxious than it already is, keep track of this piece of paper. Imagine having to get all of these signatures twice (even though you would not be alone)!
Make a copy of your course pre-approval form once you have obtained all of the signatures.
Bonus points if it’s a digital copy that you can access once you are abroad.
Once you are abroad and you finalize your courses, get approval for any courses that aren’t listed on your course pre-approval form.
This will help you know how all of the courses you take abroad will impact your degree.
If you don’t get the courses approved and annotated for how they will impact your degree before you complete your program, you will have to work with your academic advisor (and probably the study abroad advisor) once you return to campus.
Make sure your program or program provider will send your transcript to your home university’s Registrar or study abroad office.
This is probably the most important part of the “getting credit process.”
If your home university never receives a transcript, you will not receive credit for your program. Check with your home university study abroad office after you return. Remember that it might take a few weeks (or months) for the credits to be applied.
And there you have it! If you communicate with the required parties and follow these steps, you should be well on your way for getting credit for your courses abroad.
Related Posts:
Types of Study Abroad Programs
7 Habits of Successful Study Abroad Students
5 Reasons Why Students Don’t Study Abroad
9 Tactics to Survive the Pre Semester Panic
Study Abroad Guide: Preparation Phase
As always, check out the Resources page to find opportunities for scholarships, grants, and international opportunities!
What did you have to do in order to ensure credit for your study abroad program? Reply in the comments below!
Students receive transfer credit for most courses taken on study abroad programs.