Academic Information

Students who are currently enrolled at UNC must go through the Study Abroad Office in order to earn any academic credit for a program outside of the U.S. This is an excellent opportunity to earn graduation requirements in an environment outside of UNC. Students who study abroad can earn Major, Minor, Language, General Education, and General Elective credit.

To earn any type of credit, students must submit Credit Request Forms for the courses they take abroad and identify the department they would like to review those courses. If a course is approved by an academic department, and the student earns the equivalent of a C or higher in the course, the Study Abroad Credit Transfer Specialist will work with the UNC Registrar’s Office to transfer those courses to UNC.

Major, Minor, and Language Credit

Each academic department has their own Study Abroad Departmental Reviewer. This faculty or staff member is responsible for reviewing study abroad courses that students request to count towards their Major, Minor, or Language requirements. Each department has their own list of requirements in order to review and approve courses.

Click here for a list of the Departmental Reviewers and their department’s instructions.

General Education and Elective Credit

Students requesting General Education credit need to submit a Credit Request Form. The Study Abroad Credit Transfer Specialist will review each request based on the General Education Requirements.

Students requesting General Elective credit also need to submit a Credit Request Form. Students will earn Elective credit as long as the student earned the equivalent of a C or higher in the course.

Credit Hour and Grade Conversions

Each international institution is unique in the way they handle grades and credits. This may differ from how UNC functions, which is why we created a Credit Hour and Grade Conversion Chart for students to utilize as they are choosing their courses and earning grades abroad. Because we require students to earn the equivalent of a C or higher in a course in order to transfer it to UNC, we provide this information to the student before they commit to a program. Faculty, staff, and students can information on Credit Hour and Grade Conversions under Academics Abroad, or on each Study Abroad program brochure under Courses & Credits.

Registration

Study abroad students are enrolled in either a YAP or ISP placeholder for the term they are abroad. When students complete the credit transfer process, TREQ courses are posted to their academic record. For further information, please review the Academics Abroad section.