What Credits Will I Earn on Study Abroad?

Study abroad allows you to earn college academic credit for courses taken while abroad, IF courses are pre-approved before you participate in a program.

It is important to choose the courses you will be taking while studying abroad and pre-approve them (if applicable at your home institution) with the appropriate person at your institution, usually your academic advisor. This means that you would be cleared by your school to take those courses and that they would count towards your degree if you complete them successfully on the study abroad program.

From accredited host institutions, academic credit should transfer the same as taking college courses at another institution in the U.S. and adding it to your degree requirements. Some schools will not transfer credit if the grade achieved on a study abroad course is below a C.

You should be aware that most accredited international colleges and universities will not be accredited in the United States, but will instead be accredited in the country they are operating in, by the appropriate accrediting body, usually that country's Ministry of Education.

A good practice is to check if there are other students at your school who have successfully transferred credit from a specific university that you are looking into attending while abroad. If they have studied abroad there and were able to transfer credit, then in general you should be able to as well.