Academics
Academics are an essential part of the international education experience when spending a semester, summer, or academic year abroad. It is imperative to plan ahead and incorporate your experience into your degree plan. Students should be consulting with their departmental academic advisor when planning to study abroad. Courses taken abroad can count towards degree requirements, general education courses, or free electives.
Course Approval and Processing
Meet with your departmental academic advisor to discuss how studying abroad will impact your graduation plan.
Students must have all courses pre-approved for Illinois credit. Instructions, requirements, and deadlines for study abroad course approvals vary by college. Familiarize yourself with your college’s procedure for course approvals and understand the course approval requirements by reviewing the information on the Course Approvals page.
The Course Approval Database contains all courses with existing Illinois course equivalents. If a course on your foreign transcript has not been approved following the instructions for your college, this will delay the processing of your study abroad credit.
Students must enroll in at least 12 Illinois credit hours at their host institution while abroad for Fall/Spring semester programs. Verify the grade & credit equivalency from your host institution to Illinois. Though a course may be a direct equivalent at Illinois this does not mean the credits hours are the same. Beginning Fall 2022, all undergraduate students must receive the equivalent of an Illinois D- or better to earn credit (CR). All courses taken abroad by Grainger Engineering students will appear on their Illinois transcript as either CR or NC, unless they are taking the course for major or minor that is not offered by Grainger Engineering.
The course approval database is a reference point and must be used in combination with the courses offered to exchange students at the host institution to determine what offerings are available to you during your exchange term. Not everything available to you is listed in the course approval database nor guaranteed enrollment. Not all courses offered are offered every semester; double check the course catalog at the host institution. It is important you make courses selections that have flexible options in your four year plan.
Submitting Course Approvals (Grainger Engineering Students ONLY): Save your course approvals as a PDF with the following file name format: UIN_TermAbroad_MyReviewedCourses. (e.g., 612345678_SP26_MyReviewedCourses) and email it using this link Course_.727quctxlws5lor4@u.box.com
While abroad, you must make arrangements for your host institution to send a copy of your transcript to Illinois. Study abroad credit can take 6-10 weeks to be processed once a host university transcript is received by Illinois. Timing will vary based on program and current demand.
If you are planning on attending graduate, medical, or law school, they will likely require an official transcript from the host institution. You must make arrangements with your host institution for this, as Illinois is unable to provide a copy of your transcript from a host institution.
To avoid delays in processing courses, you should review your "My Registered Courses" to determine if any courses are not already listed. Failing to submit necessary course approvals before you return from abroad may delay the processing of your transcript.
All credit earned on approved programs will count as Illinois credit on your official Illinois transcript based on the designated conversion. Beginning Fall 2022, all undergraduate students must receive the equivalent of an Illinois D- or better to earn credit (CR). All courses taken abroad by Grainger Engineering students will appear on their Illinois transcript as either CR or NC, unless they are taking the course for major or minor that is not offered by Grainger Engineering.
More information is available on the Education Abroad website.
Be patient while your grades are being processed. Complete any scholarship project requirements if applicable to you.