Credit and Enrollment
Study abroad is an excellent way for students to enhance their academic, personal, and professional skill set to better prepare them to enter a globally-engaged workforce after they graduate from KU. A priority of Study Abroad & Global Engagement (SAGE) is to help students identify what they need to do to approve their credits before they depart, and ensure that the credits get posted to their KU transcript after the program ends.
SAGE has a variety of resources available for students who are trying to decide what program best meets their academic objectives. We offer drop-in advising services from 9 am- 5pm, Monday through Friday in our Info Center, where students can meet with a peer advisor to help guide them through the program selection process. We also recommend students visit our academic and study abroad page to learn how they can best prepare for their time overseas.
Resources
Study abroad is an excellent way for students to buff up their academic experience at KU. SAGE works closely with KU academic departments to identify program options that will fit into your student’s degree programs. More information is available on the Study Abroad in your Major section of our website. If your student has not yet declared a major, please see the section on Exploratory Pathways.
While students are abroad, they will need to enroll in classes at KU through Enroll & Pay during their designated enrollment period. Students will receive detailed instructions on the enrollment process prior to the enrollment period.
Students should speak with their academic advisor and study abroad program coordinator to determine what coursework is appropriate to take while abroad. Students should meet all eligibility requirements for their program and complete any necessary pre-requisites for the courses they plan to take.
Students are expected to maintain full-time enrollment status while abroad. This means undergraduate students are expected to enroll in the equivalent of 12 to 15 KU credit hours each semester. Summer, winter break and spring break programs have varying credit hour requirements. Graduate students will usually earn no more than six to nine graduate credits per semester.
All credit earned on programs approved by Study Abroad & Global Engagement must go through the course approval process and will appear as KU credit on the student’s transcript. To learn more about this process, please visit the Credit Approval for Study Abroad section of our website.
All courses taken abroad will appear on the student’s transcript, and all grades will be factored into the student’s GPA. Generally, semester grades are posted shortly upon the return from the program. Credit for Winter Break and Spring Break programs is recorded on the Spring semester academic record. Summer grades are posted at the end of the summer term on the KU Lawrence campus (late July) or at the end of the program. In some cases, grades may be delayed pending receipt of academic information from the host institution. Further delays may occur if the student did not complete the credit transfer information completely or correctly.
KU students studying abroad through Study Abroad & Global Engagement remain enrolled at KU while abroad. Non-KU students studying abroad through Study Abroad & Global Engagement are admitted to KU as non-degree seeking students and are also enrolled at KU while abroad. Detailed enrollment instructions will be provided to your student prior to the enrollment period.
If your student is studying abroad during their last semester at KU, they should be sure to let their program coordinator know and discuss the grade posting timeline with them.