Academic Advising

Before going abroad, all students must fill out an Education Abroad Academic Approval Form, found in their K-State online applications. The Academic Approval Form is a way for you to confirm how certain courses abroad will transfer back to K-State. It also serves as documentation for the Office of Student Financial Assistance that you will be taking enough credits to qualify for financial aid, if eligible.

When you are applying to study abroad, review the list of courses offered at your host institution of study and print off syllabi or course descriptions of the classes you are interested in taking. Your education abroad advisor will help you determine how many credit hours a course is worth. Once the classes and credit hours are listed, bring the form and course syllabi to a meeting with your academic advisor, or a designated representative in the academic department or college from which you are requesting credit. The academic advisor/representative can pre-approve KSU equivalencies for those courses or how your proposed courses will count toward your K-State degree requirements. If you need assistance obtaining syllabi or descriptions for courses abroad, please contact your Education Abroad advisor. You can also contact your Education Abroad advisor if you have questions about the contacts in your college or department that determine course equivalencies.

Confirming Your Course Enrollment Once Abroad

Once you arrive at your host university, you must confirm with Education Abroad which courses you have enrolled in. Email your Education Abroad Advisor the full list of courses you have enrolled in for the term. You may arrive at your host university and discover that you cannot enroll in some of the classes that you initially wanted. If this happens, do not panic! Simply go ahead and enroll in new courses that best fit your needs. After you enroll, you should email your Education Abroad advisor and academic advisor, who will then begin to work on finding appropriate K-State equivalencies for the classes in which you enrolled. Your Education Abroad advisor can assist you in revising your Academic Approval Form while you are abroad.

How to Complete the Academic Approval Form Correctly

It is important that students and their advisors, or designated department representatives, complete the Academic Approval Form correctly. The information provided on the form indicates how courses from abroad will be applied to a student's DARS. Courses from abroad may be used to fulfill major requirements, minor requirements, or general degree requirements. Additionally, if needed, students may take courses abroad that are not applied to their degree requirements.

Listing Courses and Credit Hours

On page two of the form, the two left hand columns should be completed by the student. Students should list as many courses as they are able. The form allows for 10 courses to be listed. If more spaces are needed, students can print off and complete additional forms. Include the Course Title and, if available, the Course Number. If you are providing syllabi or course descriptions, you can attach these to the form. Once students have listed all the courses they are planning to take (plus extra), they will submit the form to the Education Abroad office. An Education Abroad Advisor will determine how many KSU Credit Hours a course is worth.

Some courses from abroad have previously been evaluated with KSU equivalencies. If you know which courses you are interested in taking, you can reference the Transfer Equivalency database to see if this information is available: http://www.k-state.edu/undergradadmit/transferequivalency.html

Assigining Course Equivalencies

Once credit hours are assigned, students will take the form to their academic advisor/relevant department to have the course content evaluated. On page two of the form, the middle section (not the part that is grayed out) will be completed by the advisor or designated department/college representative. They will indicate the KSU equivalencies for the courses listed on the left hand side, or how the courses from abroad will be applied to the student's degree requirements.

It is important to note that advisors/departments are NOT evaluating credit hours. They are simply evaluating the content of a course. It is possible that a KSU requirement can be satisfied with a study abroad course even if it is not exactly 3 credit hours. This guidance has come from the Office of the Registrar, the Office of Recruitment and Admissions, and International Credit Guidelines. If you have questions about this, please contact an Education Abroad Advisor.

Acceptable responses include: the specific KSU equivalency along with the course number; applicability toward the student's degree requirements, such as "Humanities elective" or "Unrestricted elective"; or "Course not required for degree requirements". "Determined upon return to KSU" should not be used.

For courses that have specific KSU equivalencies, the advisor or designated representative can also indicate the following:

• If the course is approved just for this individual student, circle "1" on the form.
• If the course is approved for this student and all future students, circle "0" on the form. The course will then be added as a rule to KSU's Transfer Equivalency database: http://www.k-state.edu/undergradadmit/transferequivalency.html
• If the course has been previously validated and listed in the Transfer Equivalency Database, circle "EQ" on the form.

Final Department/College Approval:

The completed Academic Approval Form should also be signed by the "Relevant College/Department Administrator" and then submitted to Education Abroad at 304 Fairchild Hall.

College of Agriculture: Requires signature from Teaching Coordinator and Dean's Office, 117 Waters Hall

College of AP Design: Student & Academic Services Office, 1127 Regnier Hall

College of Arts & Sciences: Requires signature from Dean's Office, 107 Calvin Hall

College of Business: Student Success Center, 1001 Business Building

College of Education: Dean's Office, 013 Bluemont Hall

College of Engineering: Requires signature from Dean's Office, 1093 Fiedler Hall

College of Health and Human Sciences: Requires signature from Assistant Dean for Student Support, 119 Justin Hall

College of Technology and Aviation: Requires signatures from Department Head and Dean's Office, 208 College Center