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Credit Transfer Process

There are two pathways to obtaining academic credit for study abroad at VCU:
  1. Programs where students are enrolled in credit-bearing VCU coursework. These include many VCU faculty-led programs, and the VCU Qatar exchange.
  2. Programs where students earn transfer credit for coursework completed abroad, including ISEP, VCU direct-enroll or exchange programs, third party programs, and some faculty-led programs. Transcripts must come from an institution of higher education accredited abroad or in the U.S. Note that all transfer credit programs must be approved by VCU Education Abroad--contact your Education Abroad Advisor to verify that you are applying to a credit-eligible program.


How does transfer credit work?

  • Students must complete the VCU Education Abroad application and registration process. 
  • Once a student is approved, VCU Education Abroad will register them for a 12 credit STUA placeholder course during the semester, or a 6 credit STUA course in the summer. The STUA course does not generate VCU tuition but serves as a placeholder that allows study abroad students to maintain their VCU student status and gives them access to their financial aid, institutional scholarships, e-services, the VCU library, and their VCU email.
  • Students must meet with their VCU Education Abroad and academic advisors to discuss course selections.
  • Students should complete the course approval form before they study abroad.
    • Courses already listed in the pre-approved courses database do not require additional approval, as long as the approval has been made within the last five years.
  • If classes have not been pre-approved upon receipt of a student's transcript, courses must be approved before credit can be posted.
  • Once study abroad credits are transferred, the courses can be viewed at the top of the student’s e-services transcript page. (Please note that the STUA placeholder course will remain on the student’s VCU transcript)

Important notes:

  • Credit is awarded by the international credential evaluator in the Global Education Office, Mr. Wayan “Mas” Mastriyana. The number of credits that VCU may award for a foreign course varies; contact your Education Abroad Advisor to confirm the number of credits a specific course will earn.
  • It is the student’s responsibility to request that the study abroad transcript be sent directly from the host institution to the Education Abroad office.
  • We cannot transfer credit that doesn’t appear on the study abroad transcript or for courses in which a student has not earned the equivalent of a "C" or better.
  • In order to transfer credits from study abroad, an official hard copy transcript can be mailed to: VCU Education Abroad, 912 W. Grace St., PO Box 843043, Richmond VA 23284-3043 or an official electronic transcript can be sent directly from the host institution to (abroad@vcu.edu).