Course Planning
Getting Credit for Courses Taken Abroad
Pacific students studying abroad for a semester on an approved program earn Pacific units (not "transfer credits") as if they were studying on campus. Any major/minor/gen ed requirements that a student is looking to fulfill while abroad must be approved by the relevant academic advisor/gen ed coordinator. The CAR form is used to collect those signatures and pre-approve how credit will be awarded. If students end up taking different courses abroad than what had been approved, they are responsible for uploading an updated CAR form to their original application in Abroad Office. After your program is finished, IPS will receive your transcript and submit it to the Registrar's Office along with your CAR form for processing.
Fulfilling Gen Ed Requirements Abroad (International Education Week 2020 presentation)
Can my major go abroad?
There are programs available for every major. However, every major is completely different for what course requirements are allowed to be fulfilled off-campus. The easiest solution is to save your gen ed requirements for your semester abroad. You will need to work closely with your academic advisor to get approval of your course plan abroad.
What about my grades?
Since you are getting Pacific units, not transfer credits, all grades on your transcript will transfer back and impact your GPA. Therefore, all classes must be taken for a grade and cannot be taken Pass/Fail. Note that many countries have a completely different system for assigning the number of credits to a course or how a grade is calculated. Most provider programs will provide a transcript that reflects the U.S. system, however, if you are studying at a local university, a grade/credit conversion may be necessary. Students studying in Europe, for example, will often have to divide the number of credits in half.