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Course Approval Process

As part of the study abroad application process, students complete a course approval form. Students are required to have courses approved at least 2 months prior to departure.


Refer to these step-by-step instructions on how to complete a Study Abroad Course Approval Form: 
Instructions on How to Complete a Course Approval Form



The Course Approval form may require up to three levels of sign-off:
1) Academic Advisor signature*
2) Chair of the Department at Scranton signature (to determine the equivalent course at Scranton) 
3) CAS Associate Dean's Office signature (to confirm if General Education or Free Elective credits will be awarded) 

*If the course already appears on the list of classes that have been previously approved at the institution abroad, then the student's academic advisor must initial next to the course in the "chair, advisor, or other reviewer initials" box and write "Pre-Approved". The syllabus does not need to be reviewed by the Chairperson and the CAS Dean's office. The student and academic advisor signatures are the only ones needed on the form if the student is taking ONLY pre-approved classes. 

 
Students, Advisors, Chairs, and the CAS Associate Dean's office each have a role in the process of approving study abroad courses. See the role descriptions below: 

Students
Students will print out a copy of the study abroad Course Approval Form and will compete their portion of the form using the following guidelines:
  1. View courses for your program that have been pre-approved by the University of Scranton. Pre-approved courses have been previously taken by a University of Scranton student, and their equivalent Scranton courses have been determined because a chair has previously reviewed the syllabus for that class. You may also take a course offered by your program that is not listed on the pre-approved course list - however, you will need sign-off from the chairperson of the corresponding University of Scranton department. See the signatures step below. 
  2. On the left hand side of the form, list the courses you wish to take while you are studying abroad. Please provide the course number and prefix, the course title, and the credit value of the course. Note that the credit value may be different than at the University of Scranton - if that is the case, the Office of Global Education can provide you with the credit equivalents.
  3. Identify where the credits earned abroad are to be applied at the University of Scranton by listing the course under that heading (e.g. major, free elective, or language).
  4. After completing the left hand side of the form, you will meet with your advisor to complete the right hand side of the form. 
Advisors
The advisor will work with the student to complete the right hand side of the form. The advisor's role is to review and approve where the student proposes to apply the study abroad courses to their University of Scranton record and to determine what the University will call the courses taken abroad. The advisor will provide the appropriate University of Scranton course prefix, number and title of the courses taken abroad based on the following:
  1. If the course abroad is equivalent in description or content to a course offered at the University of Scranton: the course abroad will receive the prefix, number and title of the course at the University of Scranton.
  2. If the course abroad has no equivalent at the University of Scranton: 
    1. The course prefix will be determined by the content of the course abroad and where the course would best fit at the University of Scranton. (E.g. if the study abroad course is a history course or has a history prefix, the equivalent prefix at the University would be HIST, if the course abroad is an art history course, the equivalent prefix at the University would be ARTH, etc).
    2. The course number will be the approximate level of the course (100, 200, 300, 400) with the last two digits ending in 97 (e.g. 397). The last two digits indicate that the course is a study abroad course.
    3. The course will retain the original course title (e.g. a study abroad course with a prefix of H3409 titled The History of Castles in Ireland would be listed as HIST 397, The History of Castles in Ireland).
  3. If the course already appears on the list of classes that have been previously approved at the institution abroad, then the student's academic advisor must initial next to the course in the "chair, advisor, or other reviewer initials" box and write "Pre-Approved". The syllabus does not need to be reviewed by the Chairperson and the CAS Dean's office. The student and academic advisor signatures are the only ones needed on the form if the student is taking ONLY pre-approved classes. 
Department Chairs and the CAS Associate Dean's Office 
  1. If the course has NOT been pre-approved at the University of Scranton: the Chairperson of the corresponding department at the University of Scranton will need to view the syllabus to determine the course equivalency. 
    1. The student emails a copy of the syllabus of the course that they are seeking approval for to the department chairperson and requests a meeting with them. Refer to this list to see the name of the current chair at Scranton https://www.scranton.edu/academics/provost/PDFs/Chair%20Lists/2025-2026-departmental-chairpersons-2025-2026.pdf
    2. The student prints out a copy of the syllabus and brings it to the meeting with the department chairperson.  If the chairperson determines the course to be equivalent to the proposed University of Scranton course, they must put their initials in the "Chair, Advisor, or other reviewer initials" box on the course name line. 
    3. If the course is to be applied to the student's major, it must be approved by the chairperson of the major. The Chairperson must provide a signature on the appropriate line on the bottom of the form. 
    4. If the course is a language course, it must be approved the Chairperson of the World Languages Dept. The Chairperson must provide a signature on the appropriate line on the bottom of the form. 
    5. If the student is seeking the course to be approved as a General Education or Free elective course,  the student must  ALSO take the printed copy of the syllabus AND the completed course approval form (with the student's, advisor's and chair's signature already on it) to the CAS Associate Dean's Office in St Thomas Hall (2nd floor) as the last step in the course approval process.  The CAS Associate Dean's Office determines if a course will count for a General Education attribute (e.g., CH, CA, S, P, etc) - or whether the course will count as only a Free Elective.  This office will also determine the number of credits to be received for the study abroad course.  The CAS Associate Dean's office will provide a signature on the appropriate line on the bottom of the form.  
When the Study Abroad Course Approval Form is completed and has the required signatures, the form is returned to the Office of Global Education. A study abroad application is not considered complete without the completed course approval form. The Office of Global Education will provide a student with the final copy.  The student is instructed to make two copies of the course approval form when complete; one for their records and one to give to their advisor. 

Print the blank form here: Study Abroad Course Approval Form 

sample