Earning Academic Credit

• Transferability
  • TWU is required by contract to accept coursework offered through approved Education Abroad programs. TWU has the authority to determine if coursework taken abroad meets specific degree requirements OR will be considered electives. 
• Residency Graduation Requirement 
  
  • As per graduation requirements found within the Texas Woman's University Catalog, students must earn a certain portion of credit hours toward degree requirements at TWU. Coursework taken abroad counts toward Residency Graduation Requirements, and is not considered transfer coursework.
• Grades and GPA 
  
  • The grades you earn in your courses abroad will appear on your TWU transcript, and will impact your TWU and overall GPA.
• Transcript Timelines 
  
  • Transcripts from international institutions may take 3-6 months to be received at TWU. As per graduation requirements found within the Texas Woman's University Catalog, all transcripts required for degree completion must be received by TWU within four weeks of the end of the term for which a student has applied to graduate. Planning to participate in an education abroad program during your final semester may not be possible without delaying graduation.

• Review Your Degree Plan
  
  • Consult your TWU Student Planning/Web Advisor and the TWU Catalog to review your degree plan requirements to determine which elements you still need to complete in order to graduate. You may want or need to seek additional guidance from your academic advisor.
• Review Coursework Offered Abroad
  
  • Course details are typically available in some capacity online directly through the education abroad program provider's website. While some information may be limited, there should be enough details provided for you to get a sense of coursework offered along with course descriptions. If you have already determined which education abroad program you are planning to participate in, simply consult the website related to that program. If you are using course offerings as criteria for selecting an education abroad course, there are many tools and filtered searches on each program provider's website to narrow your search.
• Compare & Contrast
  
  • Critically review the courses remaining in your degree plan, including name, description, credit hours, and level (lower division: 100-2000; upper division: 3000-4000; graduate: 5000+). For Core courses, review the Core Objectives for each component area along with reviewing courses that meet Core requirements. When reviewing coursework abroad, pinpoint courses that are similar to those at TWU. 

TWU Academic Advisors are excellent resources for course planning. Once you have taken initiative to identify potential coursework abroad, connect with your Academic Advisor to determine the best next steps. Follow the tips below for ways to best communicate with your advisor:

• Begin the Conversation Early
  • Whether your plans are concrete or up in the air, early communication is key. Kindly let your advisor know participating in an Education Abroad program is of interest to yours. Continue to provide your advisor with updates, as appropriate, as your plans take shape.
• Take Ownership
  • It is ultimately the student’s responsibility to take ownership of understanding degree requirements, doing your research, and presenting proposed coursework. 
• Be Patient and Flexible
  • Pre-approving courses may require more information than available online. Education Abroad can request syllabi and/or additional course details from the abroad university. Certain courses may require review from specific academic departments or faculty. Requests of this nature take time and might involve many moving parts.
• Save Communication
  • Save any email conversations related to coursework abroad for reference and continuity. Academic Advisors meet with many students, and it may be difficult to recall a specific email conversation. Providing context or previous email chains may benefit the speed of response.