Instructions for Requesting a Course Equivalent for Study Abroad Classes

Many courses from both IU and non-IU study abroad programs initially appear on your record as undistributed 100-level credit (e.g. History of Europe = HIST-OS 100 or HIST-UN 100). Undistributed courses count as elective credit toward graduation so you may choose to leave credit this way.  You may petition individual departments to assign course numbers or upper-level credit so that you may use the credit within a major, minor or upper-level distribution.

It is possible to determine if a course has already been reviewed for distributed credit in a department.  For IU programs (administered and co-sponsored) consult the program notebooks in the Information Center or your study abroad advisor.  For non-IU programs you will need to submit a Credit Transfer Agreement to International Admissions.

If a course has not yet been evaluated you may provide a detailed course description or syllabus to the appropriate department before you participate in the program. Most departments will require additional course materials (syllabus, reading list, papers, exams, etc.) upon completion of the program before assigning a specific IU equivalency, but they may be able to provide general feedback regarding the possibilities and the level at which credit might transfer before your program begins. 

You may leave the credit as undistributed (-OS 100 or -UN 100) and petition for distribution or general education credit (Arts and Humanities, Social and Historical, Culture Studies, International Dimension Requirement, etc).

College of Arts and Science (COLL) majors should petition the appropriate departments for AH or SH credit and you should petition the Undergraduate Academic Affairs Office (http://www.indiana.edu/~college/recorder/forms/CS.pdf) for Culture Studies credit.

Use the COLL bulletin (http://www.indiana.edu/~bulletin/iub/coas/) as a guide for selecting courses you could use to fulfill Arts and Humanities (AH), Social and Historical (SH), and Culture Studies (CS) credit. For example, a literature course could possibly fulfill an AH requirement and a history course could possibly fulfill an SH requirement.

Students in all other schools should consult their advisor.

You may leave the credit as undistributed and simply count it as elective credit toward graduation, especially if you have already met the distribution or culture studies requirement while abroad.

Do not expect to earn credit for: Natural and Mathematical sciences (NM), Intensive Writing, Culture Studies list C, or upper-level Business requirements while abroad.