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Courses and Credits

Programs with Loyola Faculty and Loyola courses

Loyola Faculty-led Summer program: You will receive Loyola course credit and grades. It is your responsibility to make sure that the courses you are taking will meet specific degree requirements or count as electives for your program. You don't have to fill out any additional forms other than those required for your program.

Programs at other institutions – policies for credit approval and grade transferGina Salacki - India Train

  • Remember that you must have approval to study abroad and have an application set up through the Loyola study abroad website if you want to receive credit.  This applies even on non-Loyola programs. 
  • Your courses need to be approved in advance
    • All Courses used to fulfill program requirements must be approved by the following individuals on the Course Approval Form (CAF) accompanied by course descriptions or syllabi. 
      • Associate Dean or designated official from the student’s College
      • department chair,
      • advisor,
      • Second major or minor Chair
      • Foreign Lang. Chair’s Approval if taking required courses,
      • Director of Honors Program if applicable
      • Financial Aid
      • CIE
    • Students must ensure that an official transcript from the institution attended be forwarded to CIE.
    • Students are subject to all University and college residency requirements unless they receive prior permission from their college.
 
  • Credits abroad
You must enroll in your program or host institution full time. A full-time student is an undergraduate who is enrolled in the equivalent of 12 or more Loyola credit hours in a regular semester or the equivalent of 6 or more Loyola credit hours in the summer session. The number of classes and/or credits you take to be full time will vary from country to country. It is your responsibility to determine full-time enrollment at your program or institution abroad and to maintain full-time enrollment. If not, it could affect your financial aid for your semester abroad as well as future semesters at Loyola. Students have lost TOPS and other financial aid because they did not complete a full course of study while abroad.
 
  • You are still registered at Loyola!
Depending on the program you are attending, the Center for International Education registers you in a 12-credit dummy course at Loyola which includes the name and location of your study abroad program.  The number of credits associated with this course may not correspond to the actual number of credits that you are taking while you are abroad – don’t worry!  When Loyola receives your transcript at the end of your semester abroad, the actual number of credits you earned while abroad will be posted instead.  You will continue to receive e-mails from Loyola and be able to early register while you are abroad.
 
  • Grading abroad
Depending on your program, the grading system, the academic expectations of the faculty, and number of credits assigned may be very different from Loyola. For example, the professors may not give you a syllabus or tell you how you will be graded. Your entire grade could be based on one exam at the end of the semester or an oral and written exam, and the grading scale may not be directly equivalent to our system. While abroad, you are subject to the academic policies of your host institution, including the host institution's grading policies and grade contestation or grievance procedures. Find out what is expected of you in each class and what the grades mean. Talk to your fellow students, the international office, and support services offices on campus and make sure you understand what is expected of you and how you will be graded. Inquire about retake/resit and/or grade contestation policies. In case there are any questions about what is covered in your courses abroad, we recommend that you keep copies of all your work done abroad and syllabi. Professors abroad frequently do not return papers and so it is important to keep copies of your work.
 
  • Transfer of grades
    • Students must complete the course approval form during the pre-acceptance phase of their application and if courses change, the Study Abroad Course CHANGE Approval Form. 
    • Effective Fall 2023, Loyola will award letter grades for non-Loyola taught courses abroad. Grades earned in non-Loyola taught courses abroad will NOT count toward a student's GPAs at Loyola. Credit for approved courses will be awarded for courses in which a C or higher is earned. Grades below a C will be recorded on the Loyola transcript but will NOT be counted toward Loyola requirements.

Click here to go to the Academic FAQs Link.

Click here to return to Study Abroad in 5 Simple Steps.
 

Revised 4/24/23