Study abroad students will work with their advisors (major, minor, study abroad and four year) to ensure their courses transfer back appropriately, maintain their full-time Case Western Reserve University registration and student status while abroad, and maintain awareness of the academic policies for study abroad course transfer.
These links navigate to each of those categories:
- Transferring Study Abroad Credit
- Course Registration at Case Western Reserve
- Academic Policies for Study Abroad
Transferring Study Abroad Credit
To ensure timely graduation, students should meet with their advisor to decide upon an academic plan. This plan will help students make the most informed decision on the timing of their study abroad program. Some CWRU departments have created Discipline-Specific Programs to make determining when and where students should go abroad much simpler.
Course Approval Process
After students apply through the Program Search Engine and their eligibility to study abroad has been confirmed, students should begin working on getting course approvals. Overseas courses are approved by Case Western Reserve Academic Representatives, only. See the list of Academic Representatives.
Note that some departments have designated an academic representative exclusive to transfer and off-campus study, and that representative approves study abroad courses. Students must ensure they are contacting the correct representative.
Academic Representatives approve courses by signing the student's Course Approval Form (a shared Google file--see a sample Course Approval Form). Google tracks form edits; signatures are verified.
Instructions:
- Copy the Course Approval Form to their Google Drive and fill out the top section about themselves and the first column with the courses they wish to take abroad. Then:
- Email the edit link of their Course Approval Form to the appropriate academic representative (i.e., if requesting approval for a statistics course, email the Math academic representative)
- Give faculty time to respond to your email! Contacting faculty multiple times does not make the course approval process move quicker. Instead, it takes away time they could be spending approving your course. Students should reach out to their study abroad advisor for advice.
- Include the syllabus for the listed overseas course(s) in their email to the representative (study abroad advisors can assist with acquiring syllabi)
- Provide the academic representative with a suggested Case Western Reserve course match. Matches can be generic transfer credit if no exact match exists, but must include a department name and number, ex: ANTH 300TR
- Request that the academic representative write their name next to the course. Since Google tracks who accesses and edits Google Drive files, this will count as their signature.
- Have their academic and study abroad advisor sign the form
- Download the signed Google drive file, then upload it to their study abroad application
- Note that students should get more courses approved than they intend to take abroad in case of time conflicts, etc.
- Complete this process as early as possible and by the deadline (in the semester immediately prior to study abroad, forms are due on the Friday before final exams. Ex: The course approval form for a spring semester study abroad is due in right before finals in the preceding fall semester.)
If students take a course abroad without securing prior approval from the appropriate academic representative, there is no guarantee that the course will transfer as desired--or at all.
Course Registration at CWRU (in SIS)
In addition to registering for courses at their study abroad institution and securing course approvals from Case Western Reserve academic representatives, students who study abroad for a semester or academic year will register for a study abroad course at Case Western Reserve on the Student Information System (SIS).
Most students will register for EDAB 1 for their semester abroad. If students participate in a yearlong study abroad program, they will register for EDAB 2 in their second semester of the yearlong program.
Registration in SIS requires permission. In order to be granted permission, students must have certain items completed in their study abroad application, all of which are only available after students have been accepted to study abroad with Case Western Reserve. These items are:
- Complete required educational and cultural learning
- Upload a copy of their passport photo page
- Sign the academic policies (see below)
Once these items are complete and permission has been requested in SIS by the student, their study abroad advisor will grant permission. Students must then go back into SIS to complete their registration for the study abroad course.
The study abroad course (EDAB 1, 2, etc.) is graded Pass or No Pass and counts for the Local and Global Engagement perspective. In order to pass, students must:
- Ensure their transcript reaches the Office of Education Abroad at their mailing (see below) or email address (studyabroad@case.edu) by the deadline for prior term I grade removal (as established by the Case Western Reserve academic calendar)--note that this also means students will retain an I grade, an Incomplete, until their transcript is received by the Office of Education Abroad.
- Complete the study abroad post program evaluation about their study abroad experience by the due dates below. The Office of Education Abroad will email the link to the evaluation a few months in advance of these dates:
- August 1 for students abroad for the spring semester or academic year
- January 15 for students abroad for the fall semester or calendar year
- September 1 for students abroad at an overseas institution for summer
Academic Policies
Case Western Reserve University’s academic and course transfer policies for semester, year, and summer study abroad are outlined below and included as part of the application process. Students are responsible for reviewing and adhering to these policies and the academic regulations and policies for International Experiences as outlined in the University Bulletin.
Maintaining Study Abroad Eligibility
- You must remain in good academic standing and must enroll in the equivalent of at least 12 U.S. credit hours each semester in order to maintain full-time student status for the semester abroad.
- You must currently be in good academic and student conduct standing with no pending judicial actions or student conduct sanctions. If you fail to maintain good academic or student conduct standing between your acceptance and the start of your study abroad program, you will become ineligible to study abroad.
- If you study abroad during your senior year, you must meet the senior residency requirement to graduate on time and should confirm this requirement with the Undergraduate Advising Support Office before studying abroad.
- If you study abroad during your senior year, you understand that it may affect your graduation date as your degree cannot be conferred until after an official transcript has been received and credit transfer posted by the Undergraduate Advising Support Office.
Course Approval Form
- Transfer credit for your study abroad program will only be awarded if you have completed and submitted the Course Approval Form through the study abroad portal by the stated deadline. You are responsible for securing accurate course articulations from the appropriate Academic Representative(s) as part of this process.
- Some study abroad programs do not allow students to register for courses until arrival in country. If you enroll in courses that were not previously approved by an Academic Representative, you must submit updates to the Course Approval Form for departmental review and approval as soon as possible.
- The Course Approval Form is a live document and may be updated after submission if you register for a course that was not initially listed and approved.
- Courses taken without prior approval by an Academic Representative may not transfer back to CWRU.
Credit Transfer
- Coursework abroad may be more independent than in the U.S., with greater emphasis on independent reading, self-directed study, and independent work completed outside of class. In some cases a final exam may count for the majority or all of the course grade. You are responsible for prioritizing your academic work while abroad.
- You must earn a grade equivalent to a C or better for a course to transfer back to CWRU. Courses with grades of C- or lower, or courses that do not award an evaluative letter grade (such as Pass/No Pass), will not transfer.
- All courses taken abroad will transfer back as transfer credit and do not factor into your CWRU GPA.
- Credits earned abroad are converted to U.S. credit hours before transfer to CWRU, and that the number of credits awarded abroad may differ from the overseas course credits. You are responsible for reviewing the credit conversion information on your study abroad program page.
- You may receive no more than 38 total hours of transfer credit after matriculation.
- At least half of the coursework for your major, minor, and breadth requirements must be completed at CWRU.
Transcript Requirements
- It is your responsibility to ensure that your official transcript(s) from your study abroad program is sent to the Office of Education Abroad.
- Transfer credit cannot be processed until the official transcript is received, and this process may take several months or up to a full semester.
- Study abroad transfer credit cannot be used to fulfill the Communication Intensive, Disciplinary Communication, or Perspectives requirements of the CWRU Undergraduate General Education Requirements (UGER). However, enrollment in EDAB does satisfy the Local and Global Engagement requirement.
Language Requirement for Semester or Year-Long Programs
- If you study abroad for a semester or longer in a country where English is not an official language, you must take a course that advances your skills in the language of the host country each semester, provided such courses are available.
Additional Policies for Summer Programs
- Summer study abroad program must be at least three (3) weeks long.
- You may receive no more than 15 total hours of transfer credit from summer study in the United States or in your home country.