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Academics

 

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To have a successful experience abroad, it is important to determine how your program will contribute effectively to your degree at UW.

Academic planning can go a long way towards maximizing your study abroad experience. Click on each page below to learn more about academic planning before you go and the credit transfer process. 

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Choosing Courses & Registration

Choosing Courses 

Soca Valley, Slovenia bridge and student posing in FranceWith reasonable planning, any UW student can go abroad, take classes that fulfill major, minor or elective requirements, and still graduate on time.  To make sure this happens, students who have been accepted for study abroad must:

  • Begin planning the academic aspects of your study abroad experience well in advance of going abroad. 
  • Determine which classes you need to complete your degree, and how study abroad fits into your bachelor's degree study plan.  You will do this in consultation with your academic advisor.
  • Determine which program abroad will give you personal satisfaction as well as credits that meet your academic requirements.  Do this by speaking in depth with a Study Abroad Advisor and researching courses and syllabi in course catalogs, most of which are online.  If you have difficulty finding course descriptions, ask for assistance from your study abroad advisor.
  • Complete the Tentative Study Plan*. As you prepare to go abroad, this document helps you plan the requirements you will fill while abroad; when you return from abroad, it serves as a record of how you accomplished this.  You do this form in consultation with your Academic Advisor. This form does not guarantee that your credits will transfer back to your major. For more information on Transfer Credits, see the Registration and Transfer Credit Page. 
    • *Note that this is not an official form and the official credit transfer process does not happen until you return home.
  • Stay in touch with your academic advisor before, during and after your program abroad to make sure that your overseas courses are of maximum benefit to you.  This is especially important if your overseas class schedule changes for any reason (classes dropped, canceled, added etc). 
     

Enrollment Requirements 

When selecting courses to take abroad, you must:

  1. Enroll in a full-time course load, as defined by your program.
  2. Enroll in a sufficient number of credits abroad to maintain full-time enrollment at UW - the equivalent of 12 credit hours at UW per semester- during the term(s) you are abroad.

See below for our Study Abroad Registration and Transferring Credits section for more information on Academics while abroad. 

Registration & Transfer Credit

Study Abroad Registration

  • If you will be a full-time student abroad, the Education Abroad Office will grant you access to enroll in placeholder courses UWYO 4000 or UWYO 4001. We will only grant access once you have completed all tasks in the Cowboys Abroad Portal and all Pre-Departure requirements. 
  • UWYO 4000 is for students studying abroad through a program provider and UWYO 4001 is for students studying abroad on an exchange. *Which course you enroll in is important as it affects how we bill your UWYO student account. This is not necessary if you will be student teaching abroad. 
  • The default for 4001 is 12 credits.  The default for 4000 is 6.  On the WyoWeb registration screen, click the Schedule and Options tab.  The credit hours for the course will be a link.  Click the link to enter the credit hours desired, up to 15.
  • This course number will remain on your student registration account for the duration of your study abroad program. The default number of credit hours for this placeholder course is 6 credit hours, but can be adjusted up to 12 as needed.
  • Even though you may ultimately earn more than 12 credits for your program, you will only see the 12 credit course (minimum full-time enrollment) on your WyoWeb account while abroad. Your actual courses and credits will be reported upon completion of your program.
  • You cannot enroll in the placeholder course if you have a registration hold on your account, if you have not completed your post-decision tasks in the Cowboys Abroad Portal or if you have not completed the pre-departure orientation requirements.
     

Sydney, Australia bridge and Ecuador steps

Benefits of Study Abroad Registration

Registration in UWYO 4000/4001 allows you to remain active as a UW student during your studies abroad. 

By registering in this course, you will: 

  • Remain enrolled at the UW during your period of study abroad
  • Maintain your financial aid and scholarship eligibility
  • Earn transfer credit while abroad
  • Maintain access to your UWYO email account
  • Continue deferrment of any school-related loans
     

Transfer Credit for Study Abroad 

Types of Credit

Check in with your academic advisor to help determine how the credits on your program will most effectively contribute to your degree.

Faculty-Directed Programs 

  • Students on UW Faculty-Directed programs earn UW credit, as opposed to transfer credit, for academic work completed abroad. 

UW London Semester

  • Students participating in the London Semester will earn UW credit

UW Program Providers, Exchange Partners, and Direct Enroll Partners 

  • Students on UW Program Provider, Exchange Partner, and Direct Enroll Partner programs earn transfer credit.

Transferring Credit Upon Your Return to UW 

Study abroad coursework is evaluated by faculty.  The Office of the Registrar will send your course syllabi to the appropriate faculty for review.  If a course has recently been transferred back by another student, you will receive the same credit, based on the earlier transfer. It is your responsibility to provide documentation of your coursework to the Office of the Registrar. 

Upon completion of your study abroad program, follow the steps below to transfer your credits to UW:

  1. While Abroad: Please keep your syllabi, course materials, reading lists, papers, and exams. Before leaving your host university or program, find out how you can request transcripts for your personal records. 
  2. Your International Transcript: Your transcript will be sent to our office from your host university/program. When we receive the transcript, we will keep the original and send a scan to the Admissions Office for authentication.  Once authenticated, they will be handed off to the Office of the Registrar. 
    1. Official transcripts must come from the host university or program.
    2. Official transcripts must come through the Education Abroad Office (1000 E University Ave, Dept 3707, Laramie, WY, 82001, USA or uwyoabd@uwyo.edu).  You CANNOT request the transcripts to be sent to yourself and then take them to the Registrar's Office and you CANNOT send them directly to the Registrars' Office. 
    3.  
  3. Submit your Syllabi to the Office of the Registrar: It is your responsibility to provide the Office of the Registrar with course syllabi.  Please use this Qualtrics Form* to upload each of your course syllabi (you must submit a new form per syllabus). *This link is subject to change.  Double check with your study abroad advisor to ensure it is still correct. 
    1. The Office of the Registrar will send your course syllabi to the appropriate faculty for review.  If a course has recently been transferred back by another student, you will receive the same credit, based on the earlier transfer.
  4. Wait: Wait for the Office of the Registrar and your faculty to process your transfer credits. Once the credit transfer process is complete, course titles and grades will appear on your transcript

You have 1 year from the end of your abroad program to complete this process!

Please Note: If you are on a UW Exchange or UW Partner Program in the term you hope to graduate, your international transcript may not arrive in enough time for your credit transfer to be processed. As a result, your graduation may be delayed by one semester. Please plan accordingly.
 

Grades While Abroad 

  • If you are on a UW Exchange or UW Partner Program in the term you hope to graduate, your international transcript may not arrive early enough for your credit transfer to be processed prior to the graduation deadline. As a result, your graduation may be delayed by one semester.  Please plan accordingly.
  • Your grades will not transfer back as pass/fail. 
  • All grades for courses completed abroad will be transferred to your UW transcript as earned.  For example, a B earned abroad will be transferred to UW as a B. 
  • Your overall and transfer GPAs are affected by the grades you earn abroad, but not your institutional (UW) GPA. 
  • The hours transferred from abroad do not count towards your 30 credit residency requirement. Residency = in order to graduate, at least 30 upper division credits must be earned at UW. 

See above for our Choosing Courses section for more information on how to choose courses before you go abroad.