Adviser guide for credit conversion

When the student returns

1. The student must have an electronic (or physical) copy of their official foreign transcript sent to UW Study Abroad.
2. Once the foreign transcript has arrived, UW Study Abroad will prepare a Credit Evaluation Form, which will provide a preliminary evaluation of the number of credits and grades for each course, using country/university-specific grading scales and email the student typically within two weeks of receiving the transcript.
3. The student shares the Credit Evaluation Form – along with course syllabi and coursework completed while abroad – with the appropriate UW departmental advisers.
4. The departmental advisers evaluate the submitted coursework and assign UW equivalent courses to each foreign course.
5. Once all courses have been assigned UW course numbers, the student submits the Credit Evaluation Form to UW Study Abroad. UW Study Abroad will add the credits to the student’s UW transcript, usually within one week of receipt of the completed form.

Important considerations for advisers

• Encourage students to consult you early and often about the courses they are planning to take on a program abroad and how those courses will fit into their academic path.
• Students can’t graduate with a placeholder credit. The placeholder credit must be converted to an actual UW credits to graduate.
• Because credits from study abroad programs are not considered transfer credit, you may not award courses with XX in the course number (e.g. BIOL 2XX).
• The number of credits is suggested by UW Study Abroad but is ultimately determined by you. Our office may reach out to you if the amount granted has grand differentiation.
• It is mandatory that students complete all required academic work for each course taken abroad and submit an official transcript to UW Study Abroad in order to receive credits upon their return.
• Although credit is guaranteed, the type of UW credit awarded is not determined until after the study abroad program has ended and the appropriate UW department has evaluated the coursework completed abroad.
• UW Study Abroad is unable to convert credits until all of the courses taken abroad have been assigned a UW course equivalent.
• Not every university abroad has a process for withdrawing from a course – students need to document any changes (such as adding or dropping a course) they may have attempted to make while studying abroad.
• In general, undergraduate students earn the equivalent of 20-25 UW credits/semester, 36-45 UW credits/academic year for coursework completed on exchanges, but it is the student’s responsibility to manage the number of credits they wish to acquire or may need for full-time status. Students should be consulting you if they need help.
• Advisors can indicate the Writing credit (W) for a course you assign. This is the only General Education requirement that can be indicated for our office. An adviser will need to type (W) next to the course name/number in the Credit Evaluation Form.
  All other General Education (C, RSN, DIV, A&H, SSC, NSC) need to be done through a DARS exception by an academic adviser after the courses have been implemented into a student’s UW transcript.
• For purposes related to registration, graduation and financial aid, we recommend that this credit conversion process be completed by the end of the quarter following the study abroad experience.
• If a student receives financial aid for the year after a study abroad program, a financial aid hold will be placed if the credits are not converted in a timely manner.
• All grades earned abroad will be posted to a student’s UW transcript, regardless of the final grade or need for credit, and will be calculated into their UW grade point average.

When the student returns

• Once the program has ended and all coursework has been evaluated by the program director, the courses and grades will be reported to UW Study Abroad. We will work with Graduation and Academic Records (GARS) to post the courses, credits and grades to the student’s UW transcript, usually within a week or two of receipt of the grade report.
• Early Fall coursework is reported at the end of autumn quarter.
• Summer-A term coursework is reported at the end of summer quarter.
• As an adviser, there is nothing you have to do towards grade reporting these type of programs.

Important considerations for advisers

• Our office can report courses as “W” credits, if approved by the Program Director. However, all other General Education (C, RSN, DIV, A&H, SSC, NSC) need to be done through a DARS exception by an academic adviser after the courses have been implemented into a student’s UW transcript. For example, if a student is granted a course that can count toward multiple Aol, we do not choose which Aol it will count toward. If the student desires a change, the academic advisers can initiate that change.
• It is mandatory that students attend and participate in all courses abroad and entirely complete the coursework included in the program. Students are not eligible to drop courses on UW Faculty-led Programs. In certain instances, they can take courses Satisfactory/Non-satisfactory (S/NS).
• Students on UW Faculty-Led Programs earn UW credit for academic work completed abroad.

When the student returns

1. Once a student returns from abroad, they will work with their sponsoring faculty and departments to have their academic performance evaluated on the independent study/internship. The sponsor will then complete the “upon return” section of the pre-approved Credit Verification Form.
2. The student submits the completed Credit Verification Form to UW Study Abroad and we will work with Graduation and Academic Records to post the credits and grades to the student’s transcript.

Important considerations

• For purposes related to registration, graduation, and financial aid, we recommend that this credit conversion process be completed by the end of the quarter following the study abroad experience.
• All grades earned abroad will be posted to a student’s UW transcript, regardless of the final grade or need for credit, and will be calculated into their UW grade point average.

There can be several reasons why advisers don’t have access:

1. You are using a departmental NetID to view the form. For data privacy reasons, Credit Evaluation Forms can only be viewed with personal NetIDs.
2. The form has been reviewed and completed. Once a form is complete and submitted, students and advisers no longer have access to the form. If you request access via Google, we will let you know if the form is completed or not.
3. You don’t have the correct ASTRA permission to view the form. Permission to access the Credit Evaluation Form is regulated by the same permission group that regulates EARS/MyPlan. In order for advisers to consistently have access to the forms for every student who requests credit evaluation, you will need to get EARS/MyPlan permission by contacting the Undergraduate Advising at advice@uw.edu to request access. If you are not sure if you have access, we can check our permission group and let you know. What we can do for a temporary solution is give you temporary permission. You will need to email studyabroad@uw.edu for that request.

If these don’t seem to apply to your situation, please email studyabroad@uw.edu.

Please email our office at studyabroad@uw.edu, and we will provide you access to the student’s Credit Evaluation Form once again. Please specify your updates (course number, credit amount, etc.) in the advisor’s notes section of the form. Once completed, please notify us of your completion.

The only General Education requirement that can be indicated for our office to list is the Writing credit (W). An adviser will need to add “(W)” next to the course number in the Credit Evaluation Form.
Example: A A 498 (W)

All other General Education (C, RSN, DIV, A&H, SSc, NSc) need to be done through a DARS exception by an academic adviser after the courses have been implemented into a student’s UW transcript.

Here are the most frequent type of credits advisers give out:

• An actual UW Course Equivalent: Some foreign courses and documents provided in the form can be similar, if not identical, to a UW course. If it is, we strongly suggest to grant these type of courses to students. An adviser can review the UW Course Catalog to view courses in their department.
• Departmental study abroad credit: Certain departments have generated general credits for study abroad (ex: CHID 470: CHID Study Abroad) . These can be used in the event that there are no UW course equivalent. If your department does not have this type of course, we recommend communicating with your Curriculum Committee.

Please note that if you receive a Credit Evaluation Form from a student that was generated by our office, the student has to receive an official UW course. Advisers can’t give transfer courses (ex: MATH 1XX, SOC 3XX) due to the student officially being supported by the Study Abroad office.

When our office receives a Credit Evaluation Form, we use the Student Database screen SRF 200. The following image shows what our office looks to make sure each course provides is valid for the UW Registrar’s Office. This can be used as guidance to see if a course is valid.

When we list the Recommended Amount of Credits into the form, we base it upon the Conversion Scale, for each program, we have generated and updated throughout the years. Advisers can increase or decrease 2 credits beyond the recommended per the course(s) in the department. If an adviser goes beyond that point, a representative from our office will be in contact to verify the reasoning behind the action once the form is completed.

For commonly asked questions by students, please visit our Receiving credits post-program page.