The liberal learning philosophy of Concordia College is global. It encourages students to study away to expand global understanding and competency and to further disciplinary knowledge in a cross-cultural context. The college offers study away programs that educate for global citizenship while supporting progress toward completion of degree requirements. Through careful planning and program selection, students can engage worlds beyond the campus and take courses that in many cases fulfill major, minor, or core curriculum requirements.
 

The college offers a large variety and number of approved credit-bearing programs for study away for a semester or year. For approved semester or yearlong programs, all credits earned away count as electives toward the 126 semester credits required for Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees. For example, if a student takes five 3-credit courses for a semester at a university in China, she or he will earn 15 elective credits toward graduation.

At Concordia, students pursue study away for a semester or year through the college's approved programs, which provide several benefits in addition to guaranteed elective credit transfer. To take a non-approved program with an outside provider, students withdraw from the college for a semester or year and seek transfer credit when they return to the college. For more information, see Study Away Participation Policy.

In addition to earning elective credits, students on approved semester and yearlong programs may be able to earn course credit to fulfill requirements for a major, minor, or the core. Transfer credit possibilities vary across programs. For some programs, students know before study away that certain courses are available and will count toward specific degree requirements. For others, students will not know their courses until they register after arrival at the study site. In either case, the Registrar's Office and the Office of Global Education have procedures for documentation and approval of courses to fulfill major, minor, and core requirements. The Office of Global Education and faculty advisors help students to access information about course credit possibilities. 

Students taking faculty-led, short-term seminars such as a May Seminar or Summer School Abroad receive 4 credits through a pre-approved course of a department, interdisciplinary program, or the core. Students register in advance of study away and receive elective credits toward graduation through successful completion of the course. Following specific pre-approval by the Curriculum Committee and/or the Core Committee, the course may also count toward major, minor, or core requirements. Before completing program applications, students know from information supplied by the Office of Global Education whether credits earned through the seminar satisfy major, minor, or core requirements.

During the semester prior to study away, students complete a Study Away Course Approval Form which documents the anticipated course of study and any courses pre-approved for transfer toward degree requirements in a major, minor, or the core. The form explains student responsibility for securing credit transfer. For some programs, insufficient information prior to departure rules out pre-approval. Students are expected to keep the Registrar's Office aware of course enrollment decisions and to follow up on unresolved matters upon return to campus.

To fulfill requirements for a major or a minor, the course may be pre-approved by the department or interdisciplinary program or it may be approved on a case-by-case basis by the department chair, program chair, or the Core Committee. Typically, department or program chairs will request a syllabus and other documents to determine whether the course taken away is substantially equivalent in content, pedagogy, and expectations to on-campus course.

For core transfer, there are three options.

• First, a student may elect to take a course that has been pre-approved for core credit transfers.
• Second, a student may seek determination of equivalence and course approval through the department teaching the core course.
• Third, in situations where a student seeks to fulfill a core requirement for a course that has no on-campus equivalent, a student may petition for core credit transfer directly to the Core Committee and should contact the Registrar's Office for an Appeal of Core Requirements form. Questions about core credit appeals should be directed to the chair of the Core Committee.

Pre-approved courses for study away that fulfill Concordia core curriculum requirements

Select a program below to view more information.
 

• National University of Ireland, Galway

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