General Education credits and major or concentration credits from approved study abroad/away programs count towards graduation. These credits do not count in the GPA unless taught by St. Olaf faculty, but they do appear on the St. Olaf transcript. Some graduate and professional schools reserve the right to include study abroad/away program grades in computing a GPA and do so retroactively.
Minimum and Maximum Credit
While abroad/away, students are required to maintain full-time student status. At St. Olaf, full-time status is defined as 3.0 or more credits per semester, with 4.0 credits being the normal course load. If you are a MN State Grant recipient, you must complete 7.5 credits a year, with minimum enrollment each semester of 3.75 credits to be considered full-time. January Term enrollment can be counted towards either Fall or Spring semester’s 3.75 credits. See Terms and Conditions of Your Award for more details about enrollment requirements related to Financial Aid.
When studying abroad/away, students continue to pay regular St. Olaf tuition which covers up to the equivalent of 4.5 St. Olaf credits per semester and an additional 1.0 credit for programs classified as “with January Term” and are therefore allowed up to 4.5 credits from semester only programs or 5.5 credits from semester with January Term programs. On some programs, students may be required to or choose to enroll in a credit equivalency greater than 4.5 or 5.5 credits. When students enroll in a course load equivalence of greater than 4.5 credits per semester or 5.5 credits for semester w/January Term, credits earned abroad/away become subject to credit reduction. For example, a student studying on a fall semester only program enrolls in the equivalent of 5.0 St. Olaf credits but can only receive 4.5 St. Olaf credits, one course’s credit reduces from 1.0 to 0.5 credits for an overall total of 4.5 credits. Courses carrying GE/OLE Core cannot be reduced to receive less than 1.0 St. Olaf credit and retain the GE/OLE Core attribute.
Program specific credit equivalences are defined in the Course Credit and Grade Translation tool found below.
GE and OLE Core Credits
Courses count toward St. Olaf general education requirements where appropriate. Under the St. Olaf satisfactory/ unsatisfactory (S/U) policy, courses taken S/U do not fulfill general education requirements. Courses must be equivalent to at least 1.0 St. Olaf credit and cannot be reduced below 1.0 St. Olaf credit if receiving GE/OLE Core attribute. The Smith Center and the Registrar’s Office maintain a list of pre-approved courses which carry GE/OLE Core credit.
Additional courses may be reviewed for GE/OLE Core approval by Assistant Registrar Renae Althoff. Whenever possible, such authorization is made prior to the student’s participation in the program.
Study abroad/away programs do not automatically fulfill the Ole Experience in Practice (OEP) requirement. Semester/year participants may fulfill OEP by enrolling in the asynchronous ID296 Global Engagement Seminar (0.25 credits) during their semester/year abroad/away. ID296 is not available for January Term participants – select January Term programs have been approved to fulfill OEP. Check the individual program’s brochure for additional information.
Major and Concentration Credits
Study abroad/away courses can count towards a student’s academic major or concentration at the discretion of the department, unless courses are worth fewer than three semester credits (usually 1.0 St. Olaf credit) at the abroad/away institution/university.
To request major or concentration credit while abroad/away, students must work with the Department Chair of their major or concentration. When students request courses be reviewed for course credit, students should send the course syllabus and their reasoning for the request to the Department Chair by email to initiate the conversation. Request requirements vary by department, but generally, these requests can be made before, during, and after the semester abroad/away. The Smith Center Office highly recommends students keep a written record (such as copy of email) of major/concentration course approvals from study abroad/away, as Department Chairs can change from year to year.
NOTE: St. Olaf major/concentration departments are not guaranteed to accept courses towards their major/concentration. Not all programs have been endorsed by major/concentration departments.
Course Credit and Grade Translation
The Study Abroad/Away Credit and Grade Equivalency tool allows students to see how abroad/away course credits and grades have been translated into St. Olaf credits in semesters past. Before using this tool, students must understand the following:
- St. Olaf and the Smith Center cannot guarantee that the course curricula have not changed since these equivalents were recorded.
- Credit and grade equivalencies are subject to change.
- Students are strongly encouraged to speak to their Academic Advisor(s) and to the Smith Center Advising Coordinator prior to studying abroad/away and before enrolling in abroad/away courses.
- The credit equivalencies listed in the database are not a guarantee of credit. Credit will be evaluated on an individual basis upon receipt of the Official Transcript from their study abroad/away program.
REVIEW PROGRAM SPECIFIC CREDIT/GRADE TRANSLATION
*Note: Must be logged into St. Olaf account to view document.
**Find your program using the tabs at the bottom. They are sorted by location, then program name.