Academic Policies
Please see below for Loyola academic policies related to study abroad.
Approved Programs
Loyola accepts credit only from study abroad programs appearing on the Office of International Programs approved programs list.
Course Posting
Prior to your departure, OIP will register you in the study abroad indicator course in LOCUS. You will be considered "in residence" while abroad. The indicator course is called INDS 300X Foreign Study and you will remain enrolled in it for the duration of your study abroad term. You'll be enrolled in 12 credits of the indicator course for a semester study abroad program or 6 credits for a summer program, though these indicator credit amounts are not necessarily a reflection of the actual amount of credit you will receive for your program.
Before you leave your study abroad program to come home, you must request that your host campus ship your transcript directly to the shipping address listed at the OIP contact page. For detailed instructions, login to your study abroad application and read the item called "Request Your Transcript Gets Sent to OIP."
After you return, your study abroad credit will post to your Loyola academic record as Loyola credit (not as transfer credit). Once OIP receives the official transcript from your study abroad program, OIP will update the indicator course in LOCUS to show your actual study abroad grades and credit hour amounts. Your study abroad courses will remain listed as INDS 300X Foreign Study, however, you can see the foreign course title posted at LOCUS > Class Detail > Meeting Information > Topic.
Both you and the academic advisor will receive an email after the grades have been posted. You then need to meet with your academic advisor to have your posted study abroad courses match correctly to your academic requirements report and graduation audit, based on the study abroad course approvals you completed before going abroad.
Credits
For programs that issue transcripts with credits using the U.S. semester credit hour system, the credit amount listed on your study abroad transcript will be posted to LOCUS, rounded to the closest whole number of Loyola credits (U.S. semester credit hours).
For programs that issue transcripts not using the U.S. semester credit hour system, the credit amount listed on your study abroad transcript will be converted by OIP, then posted to LOCUS. For programs appearing in this Foreign Universities Credit Conversion Table, the credits will be converted using that table. For other programs not appearing in the Exchange Credit Conversion Table, the credits will be converted using the credit conversion table provided by the study abroad program.
If you plan to participate in an internship abroad, you must be enrolled in a concurrent course provided by the partner institution that will provide a grade and transcript in order to receive academic credit.
Final Exams
You're responsible for taking final exams and submitting all assessments for your study abroad courses by the due dates determined by your instructors abroad. Students wishing to request an early final exam date must make the request her/himself direcly to the instructor and host university/provider abroad. The instructor and host institution's policies shall govern due date modification requests. OIP strongly discourages students from seeking to deviate from their abroad professors' standard due dates. OIP doesn't support student efforts to request special treatment for due dates of study abroad assessments.
Some host institutions abroad permit retaking of exams, also known as "resitting" for an exam. You should make yourself aware of your host institution's policies regarding retaking of exams and prepare accordingly. If you choose to request an opportunity to retake an exam, contact your host university abroad, as all retake requests must be made by you, the student directly to the host university abroad. Your host university abroad's policies shall govern retake requests. If the host university abroad approves your exam retake request, you must arrange for a time, place, and proctor approved by your host university abroad and comply with the host institution's retake schedule and process. Note that universities may require that retakes occur on their own campus, not after the student has left the country.
Full-time Status
You must maintain enrollment in the equivalent of Loyola full-time status throughout your semester-long or year-long study abroad program. Loyola defines full-time status as 12 or more U.S. semester credit hours.
Grades
All study abroad courses will show up on LOCUS and will factor into your Loyola GPA.
For programs that issue transcripts with grades using the standard U.S. letter grading system, the grades listed on your study abroad transcript will be posted to LOCUS.
For programs that issue transcripts not using the standard U.S. letter grading system, the grades listed on your study abroad transcript will be converted by OIP, then posted to LOCUS. For programs appearing in this Foreign Universities Grade Conversion Table, your grades will be converted using that table. For other programs not appearing in the Exchange Grade Conversion Table, the credits will be converted using the grade conversion table provided by the study abroad program.
While OIP converts (if necessary) and posts your study abroad grades to LOCUS, the Loyola academic department that houses your major(s) and minor(s) determines the minimum grades you need to earn for various courses to count toward your degree program requirements. Contact your academic advisor for more information on your degree program requirements.
Not-for-credit Study Abroad
Not-for-credit study abroad is not permitted. Credits for all of your study abroad courses will show up in LOCUS.
Online Courses
Students are not permitted to take online Loyola courses while they are abroad. For example, studying abroad in Europe, while at the same time taking a course back at Loyola that is offered online, is not allowed.Pass/No Pass
Your courses abroad will count as letter grades by default, not as Pass/No Pass (also known as Pass/Fail at most universities). If you're interested in requesting the required permission to take a study abroad course as Pass/No Pass, you must follow the procedures detailed in the Loyola Undergraduate Studies Catalog > The Grading System and properly submit a pass/no-pass request (at LOCUS > login > Online Forms & Help > Pass No-Pass, Undergraduate Request) by the deadline set by Loyola Registration and Records. If you have questions about the Pass/No Pass procedures or request form, contact PassNoPass@luc.edu.
Post-Graduation
Post-graduation study abroad may be permissible only if the program occurs the term immediately after graduation. This means May graduates may be permitted to study abroad the immediate following summer and that December graduates may be permitted to study abroad the immediate following January Term. In order to study abroad post-graduation, you must apply as a non-degree student. It is recommended that you speak with your academic advisor and study abroad advisor before applying to study abroad post-graduation.