Credit Review Process
Credit Review Process & Requesting Credit
Types of Credit
Type of Credit | Which courses? | How will it appear on my transcript? | Satisfies which requirements? | Example |
---|---|---|---|---|
UNC Equivalency | Assigned for courses that have an exact match in the UNC curriculum | Will appear as equivalency on transcripts and in Connect Carolina (Course History, Tarheel Tracker, etc) with study abroad grading basis | Satisfies any associated general education and major/minor requirements and functions as prerequisite if needed | HIST 226 History of Rome |
Departmental Elective | Assigned for courses that do not have an exact match in the UNC curriculum, but do fit within a UNC department | Will appear as departmental elective on transcripts and in Connect Carolina (Course History, Tarheel Tracker, etc) with study abroad grading basis | If assigned with a level, will satisfy any associated major/minor/supplemental education requirements (when possible). May need additional discussion and/or adjustment with your major/minor department to fulfill additional requirements | HIST ---- History Elective or HIST 2--- History 200-level Elective |
General Education | Assigned for courses that do not fit within a specific department at UNC, but do satisfy "Making Connections Curriculum” general education requirements | Will appear as assigned GENR for associated general education requirement on transcripts and in Connect Carolina (Course History, Tarheel Tracker, etc) with study abroad grading basis | Satisfies any associated general education requirement(s) | GENR 180 Visual or Performing Art |
General Elective | Assigned for courses that do not fit within a specific department at UNC and do not fulfill any general education requirements | Will appear as GENR ---- on transcripts and in Connect Carolina (Course History, Tarheel Tracker, etc) with study abroad grading basis | Satisfies general elective hour requirements | GENR ---- General Elective |
No Credit | Credit cannot be awarded for courses focused on alcohol (i.e. wine tasting) | Course will be posted as GENR ---- with a study abroad grading basis of ‘SN’ indicating no credit is being awarded | No credit hours or requirements can be fulfilled with courses designated as no credit |
Course Review and Credit Evaluation
When UNC Study Abroad receives a decision from a department for a new course, the decision will be loaded into the Study Abroad Credit Portal Pre-Approved List and onto the student My Course List. If a course is not awarded a UNC equivalency or departmental elective credit, it will be reviewed for general education or general elective credit.
If a course is not found to have a UNC equivalency and cannot receive departmental elective credit, it will be reviewed for general education credit. Some courses awarded a departmental elective credit decision may also fulfill general education requirements; you can view this in the course notes by clicking on the course within the Pre-Approved List or when you receive a credit decision in My Course List.
You can find descriptions of each Foundation, Approach, and Connection in the UNC Catalog. A course can be approved for up to 2 General Education Requirements in the Making Connections curriculum. This can include: 1 Approach + 1 Connection or 2 Connections. (Note: students cannot earn LFIT credit from study abroad courses.)
Gen Ed decisions will be re-evaluated for the forthcoming new IDEAs in Action curriculum.
Criteria to Fulfill a Gen Ed Requirement
Course Content
- 2/3rds of the course must cover the specific Gen Ed content
- e.g for World Before 1750, 2/3rds of the course must focus on history before 1750
Writing Requirement
- The course must have 2,000 words of writing or an equivalent amount of work
- This can include the final assessment, however the writing must be completed outside of class
- An equivalent amount of work may include presentations, portfolios, or a well-documented project outside of class
- Please note: class notes do not satisfy this requirement. Work should be academic, graded coursework.
Final Exam
- Courses must include a final exam or assessment
- Further definition: final test, paper, presentation or project which signifies a cumulative assessment of gained knowledge from a course
At least 2 UNC credit hours
- The course must be the equivalent of at least 2 UNC credit hours at the host institution.
- See the Credit and Grade Conversion Guide for credit hour equivalencies.
Some courses may receive a UNC equivalency or departmental elective but may include additional hours of general elective (i.e. GENR —-) to ensure all credit hours from a course are awarded.
Steps for Requesting Credit
Step 1: Upon approval/acceptance to your study abroad program, and within 30 days of your program start date
- These pre-approved courses have already been reviewed by the department and show the UNC credit that you would receive, provided you earn the equivalent of a UNC “C” or better.
- If you see a course you wish to take, please click the green plus sign (+) for Add to My Course List. You will now see the course on the My Course List tab. Please allow time for the Study Abroad Office to process your request.
- Follow the steps to enter your program name and course information. Please make sure to upload a syllabus and provide a weblink and/or any additional documentation, if available.
- Your course will be routed to the appropriate department for review.
- Pre-approved courses will show as ‘pre-approved’ and will update to the listed pre-approved credit after the Study Abroad Office processes your request.
- New courses submitted for review will show as ‘pending’ and will update with UNC course credit once a department has issued a decision on the course.
Step 2: Upon program completion
- You can use the Remove From Course List minus button (-) to request that a course is removed. Please allow time for the Study Abroad Office to process your removal requests.