Usually, if you have detailed information about the courses offered overseas, you can have course equivalents determined by your home campus before you begin your program. Most often, though, you will not have full course descriptions until your classes actually start, so equivalents are determined later.

It is very important for you to talk with your academic adviser before you go overseas to see what kinds of courses you should try to take and which courses will be most beneficial to you. You will want to integrate your study abroad courses into your overall program for your degree, and your adviser is critical in this process. You may decide that it will be easier for you to take an extra course in your major when you come back rather than trying to get a particular course overseas. You may find out that you have room for a lot of electives in your program anyway, and that you can take what you like. You may find, however, that you will be off schedule if you do not take a certain kind of course while you are overseas, and if this is the case, you want to be sure that your study abroad program is going to offer that course. Basically, you want to have as much flexibility as possible to select the most interesting courses overseas, but you also must be aware of what you must do to graduate on schedule.

Albany students MUST discuss their plans with their advisers and have their advisers sign their "Preliminary Approval of Courses" Form prior to departure. This form does not obligate you to take those courses, but it can show that your department agreed that a certain course would count in your major. A copy of this form should be given to the Office of International Education for our files. Non-Albany students should find out what similar kind of paperwork their own school uses and follow those procedures.

SUNY Albany students who are Business majors should obtain additional instructions from the faculty member responsible for the evaluation of overseas credit before registering. Work done overseas will count toward your degree, but may not fulfill requirements in your major.

Obtaining Course Descriptions

Course descriptions are often hard to obtain in advance. For some programs, specific information on the courses that will be available will be enclosed in your acceptance packet or given to you at an orientation meeting. Some may be made available on a web site. For others it may not be possible to obtain course listings and full descriptions or know your exact course schedule until you have reached the program site. This is likely to be the case if your program is one that provides direct enrollment at another university that doesn’t have its catalog online.

Even if you can get a catalog, you may not be able to get a schedule of classes. This means that you will know what kinds of courses are taught at the host university, but not exactly which ones are going to be offered the semester you are going.

Albany knows that course descriptions are often not available in advance. Other SUNY schools should also know this. That is why we say that you will earn credits toward your degree, but that equivalents may have to be determined some time after you have begun your program or even after you have completed your study overseas.

Some non-SUNY schools tell their students that they will not approve their study abroad program unless they can present descriptions. If this is happening to you, contact us and we’ll do our best to help. Whether you are a SUNY or a non-SUNY student, it is still very important that you discuss your plans with your academic adviser and obtain approval for your program to the fullest extent possible. In addition, it is a good idea to obtain your adviser’s telephone and fax numbers, as well as an e-mail address, for correspondence from overseas.

Overseas Enrollment Report Form

Once the program has begun overseas, everyone who is on an Albany program, and all Albany students on other programs, sends an Overseas Enrollment Report Form to Albany showing the exact courses they are taking overseas. You should fill in only columns A, B, and C on the chart side of the form and attach proof of your registration or have your enrollment verified by on-site staff, following the instructions on the form. Once Albany knows exactly what classes you are taking, we can work with your major and/or minor department to determine what these courses will be equivalent to.

Albany students MUST send their course descriptions and syllabi along with their OER Form. They will help Albany determine exactly what equivalents you should get. Without the descriptions and syllabi, the process can be seriously delayed, thereby delaying your transcript.

Remember, the credits from overseas do not always translate into the same number of credits at Albany. Albany (or the administering SUNY campus) will determine the number of credits each overseas course will carry based on conversion rules that apply to your specific program. Be sure that you understand the conversion rules so that you do not drop below 12 SUNY credits. Your audit will show the number of SUNY credits assigned to each course by the Office of International Education, even if the corresponding course at your home campus carries fewer or more.