Academic Credit
Students on semester or academic year study abroad programs are required to enroll for 12 hours of credit at OU, paying all relevant tuition and fees at their normally assessed rate of resident or non-resident. The information below is taken directly from the Credit Agreement Form that students are required to submit before they can be enrolled in their study hours.
The process for obtaining academic credit and applying for financial aid is different for summer programs than it is for regular semester and year-long programs. The summer programs webpage is the best place to review specific information concerning academic credit and financial aid for each program. For general information on financial aid for summer study abroad, please go to Ask the Sooners and type “summer study abroad” into the search engine.
Most of our summer abroad offerings do not require OU enrollment for OU credit hours. The majority of summer programs administered through Education Abroad require direct enrollment at the partner university and do not require the student to be enrolled for any OU hours while abroad. In such cases, the student pays tuition and fees to the host university directly. The credits earned from the partner university abroad may then be submitted to the OU Office of Admissions upon completion of the program to obtain transfer credit. The number of transfer credits students may obtain from a summer program abroad vary from 2 to 12. In most cases, students must submit a formal transcript from the partner university abroad in order for credits earned abroad to transfer.
In only a few cases do summer programs abroad require enrollment in OU credit hours. These include the summer French language program in Vichy, France, and summer German language programs in Stuttgart and Braunschweig, Germany. Depending on the program, students will be enrolled for and pay for 6 to 7 OU hours of tuition and fees at the rate they would normally pay on campus. Additional program fees may also apply.
Students are strongly encouraged to speak with Alice Kloker, summer study abroad advisor, before deciding which program will best meet their needs.
Credit Issues for Juniors and Seniors
Each college or school at the University of Oklahoma has a resident requirement stating that the student complete a certain number or at the last semester credit hours required for a degree on campus. If the student’s study abroad program conflicts with this requirement (e.g. a non-exchange program), the college must waive the requirement. The student should contact his/her college advisor for assistance.
Grading
When official transcripts are received from foreign institutions, passing grades will be converted to "S" grades and failing grades to "U" grades on your OU record. If the total number of hours enrolled are not completed, the remaining hours will be assigned an "I" (Incomplete). If a transcript is not received upon completion, hours will be assigned an "AW" (Administrative Withdrawal). Warning: an "Administrative Withdrawal" will have a serious impact on Financial Aid recipients. If there is a reason why an official transcript will not be submitted, please notify Education Abroad or the Office of Admissions with the circumstances. If you are participating in another U.S. university's study abroad program and the foreign courses appear on that university's official transcript as their coursework, OU will honor the grades assigned by the U.S. university.
Language Study
Some foreign institutions will require a language proficiency exam to determine at what level of language study the student will need to begin. If the student is placed in a different level (higher or lower) than the one indicated on the Credit Agreement Form, the student will be awarded OU equivalent courses based on the actual level taken.
Awarding of Hours
Education Abroad enrolls the student at OU in a block of 12 hours of INTL department courses at either the lower or upper division level to represent the course work to be taken at the exchange school. When the student submits his/her transcript from overseas at the end of your program, Admissions will convert the exchange school course work into semester hours at the ratio discussed and approved prior to departure. The way universities in other countries calculate course credits may vary from the way semester credits are calculated in the U.S. At OU, a semester hour is equivalent to 16 lecture hours or 48 laboratory hours. In many instances, we can calculate OU semester credits for your exchange course work by formulas we have to convert overseas credit systems. In cases where the overseas credit system is not easily convertible to semester credits, we may rely simply on converting their total hours using the 16/48-hour system above. The rule of thumb is to enroll in a course load that is comparable to what a full-time enrollment would be for other students at your overseas university. If questions arise about what an appropriate full-time schedule is when the student arrives at the host school, he/she should contact Admissions with information on his/her courses. If the student completes course work overseas that represents more than the 12 hours that Education Abroad in which the student was initially enrolled, the student is not responsible for additional costs for as long as he/she only wishes to receive credit for the initial 12 hours in which he/she was originally enrolled. If the student wishes to receive OU credit for additional work, he/she needs to sort out the eligible coursework with Admissions, based on the formula used to determine the initial course work. The student will then be billed for the additional hours, including the $10 per-credit hour “INTL fee”. If the student did not enroll as a full-time student overseas because of problems encountered finding classes, scheduling conflicts, host university enrollment rules, etc. and wishes to receive a refund of a portion of the original 12-hour OU enrollment, he/she will need to petition the dean of the college at OU, explaining the circumstances that led to his/her partial enrollment. If the students’ petition is approved, he/she will be reimbursed for the number of hours deemed appropriate by the student’s college. It is each student’s responsibility to understand the implications to Financial Aid and scholarships when less then 12 hours are completed per semester. All changes in status should be communicated to the Education Abroad office as soon as they arise. Decisions on the appropriateness of any credit adjustments will be best supported when circumstances can be documented as they occur.
top of page
The process for obtaining academic credit and applying for financial aid is different for summer programs than it is for regular semester and year-long programs. The summer programs webpage is the best place to review specific information concerning academic credit and financial aid for each program. For general information on financial aid for summer study abroad, please go to Ask the Sooners and type “summer study abroad” into the search engine.
Most of our summer abroad offerings do not require OU enrollment for OU credit hours. The majority of summer programs administered through Education Abroad require direct enrollment at the partner university and do not require the student to be enrolled for any OU hours while abroad. In such cases, the student pays tuition and fees to the host university directly. The credits earned from the partner university abroad may then be submitted to the OU Office of Admissions upon completion of the program to obtain transfer credit. The number of transfer credits students may obtain from a summer program abroad vary from 2 to 12. In most cases, students must submit a formal transcript from the partner university abroad in order for credits earned abroad to transfer.
In only a few cases do summer programs abroad require enrollment in OU credit hours. These include the summer French language program in Vichy, France, and summer German language programs in Stuttgart and Braunschweig, Germany. Depending on the program, students will be enrolled for and pay for 6 to 7 OU hours of tuition and fees at the rate they would normally pay on campus. Additional program fees may also apply.
Students are strongly encouraged to speak with Alice Kloker, summer study abroad advisor, before deciding which program will best meet their needs.
Credit Issues for Juniors and Seniors
Each college or school at the University of Oklahoma has a resident requirement stating that the student complete a certain number or at the last semester credit hours required for a degree on campus. If the student’s study abroad program conflicts with this requirement (e.g. a non-exchange program), the college must waive the requirement. The student should contact his/her college advisor for assistance.
Grading
When official transcripts are received from foreign institutions, passing grades will be converted to "S" grades and failing grades to "U" grades on your OU record. If the total number of hours enrolled are not completed, the remaining hours will be assigned an "I" (Incomplete). If a transcript is not received upon completion, hours will be assigned an "AW" (Administrative Withdrawal). Warning: an "Administrative Withdrawal" will have a serious impact on Financial Aid recipients. If there is a reason why an official transcript will not be submitted, please notify Education Abroad or the Office of Admissions with the circumstances. If you are participating in another U.S. university's study abroad program and the foreign courses appear on that university's official transcript as their coursework, OU will honor the grades assigned by the U.S. university.
Language Study
Some foreign institutions will require a language proficiency exam to determine at what level of language study the student will need to begin. If the student is placed in a different level (higher or lower) than the one indicated on the Credit Agreement Form, the student will be awarded OU equivalent courses based on the actual level taken.
Awarding of Hours
Education Abroad enrolls the student at OU in a block of 12 hours of INTL department courses at either the lower or upper division level to represent the course work to be taken at the exchange school. When the student submits his/her transcript from overseas at the end of your program, Admissions will convert the exchange school course work into semester hours at the ratio discussed and approved prior to departure. The way universities in other countries calculate course credits may vary from the way semester credits are calculated in the U.S. At OU, a semester hour is equivalent to 16 lecture hours or 48 laboratory hours. In many instances, we can calculate OU semester credits for your exchange course work by formulas we have to convert overseas credit systems. In cases where the overseas credit system is not easily convertible to semester credits, we may rely simply on converting their total hours using the 16/48-hour system above. The rule of thumb is to enroll in a course load that is comparable to what a full-time enrollment would be for other students at your overseas university. If questions arise about what an appropriate full-time schedule is when the student arrives at the host school, he/she should contact Admissions with information on his/her courses. If the student completes course work overseas that represents more than the 12 hours that Education Abroad in which the student was initially enrolled, the student is not responsible for additional costs for as long as he/she only wishes to receive credit for the initial 12 hours in which he/she was originally enrolled. If the student wishes to receive OU credit for additional work, he/she needs to sort out the eligible coursework with Admissions, based on the formula used to determine the initial course work. The student will then be billed for the additional hours, including the $10 per-credit hour “INTL fee”. If the student did not enroll as a full-time student overseas because of problems encountered finding classes, scheduling conflicts, host university enrollment rules, etc. and wishes to receive a refund of a portion of the original 12-hour OU enrollment, he/she will need to petition the dean of the college at OU, explaining the circumstances that led to his/her partial enrollment. If the students’ petition is approved, he/she will be reimbursed for the number of hours deemed appropriate by the student’s college. It is each student’s responsibility to understand the implications to Financial Aid and scholarships when less then 12 hours are completed per semester. All changes in status should be communicated to the Education Abroad office as soon as they arise. Decisions on the appropriateness of any credit adjustments will be best supported when circumstances can be documented as they occur.
top of page