Course Transfer Process

Students are expected to meet with their academic advisors when planning to study abroad for a semester or academic year. We advise students to talk to faculty early in the planning process; however, students should not ask faculty to approve specific courses until they been accepted in the study abroad program. 

All current CWRU students seeking transfer credit for a study abroad experience must work with the Office of Education Abroad to determine eligibility and apply. As part of the application process, students must complete the Course Approval Form. (Note that studying abroad includes studying through another U.S. university or program but in an international setting and studying in one's home country, if that's not the U.S.).

The Course Approval Form is a shared Google document. Students are instructed to create a copy of the form and ask Academic Representatives to review the course and determine what transfer credit should be awarded at CWRU. The Academic Representatives would then type the approved transfer credit in the CWRU course code column, and their name into the approval column. Google tracks who accesses and edits shared files; typed signatures are verified by the Office of Education Abroad. A signature that is digitally or physically signed and returned to the student via PDF creates delays in the course approval and credit transfer process, as the Office of Education Abroad cannot verify those signatures.

Course approval information:

  • Academic Representatives can approve courses as equivalent to a specific course at CWRU within their department (e.g. DEPT 123) or can approve general transfer credit within their department at the 100-, 200-, or 300-level (e.g. DEPT 300-TR). The approved credit for the study abroad course is then posted on SIS.
  • Once posted, the student and their academic advisor can then work with Undergraduate Advising Support to ensure that, when appropriate, the transfer credit from the course is used to fulfill degree requirements via the Academic Advisement Report Subsitution Form.
  • In order for course approvals to be processed, they must be on the Course Approval Form, include a four-letter department code and number (e.g. DEPT 123, DEPT 300-TR), and be approved by the listed Academic Representative for the corresponding department.

We highly encourage students to complete this process before departure so there are no surprises when CWRU receives their transcripts from the overseas institution. If a student takes a course abroad (without securing prior approval), there is no guarantee that the course will transfer as the student wishes, or at all.

For instructions and examples:

 View the Course Approval Form