1. Study Abroad Advising
Grace Schneider
Director of Education Abroad

2. Office of Education Abroad
McMahon 110
Grace Schneider
Director of Education Abroad
Faculty-led programs
British Parliament, Oxford, Australia
CUAbroad program portfolio
Application review and acceptances
Billing & finances
Insurance
Robert Dowden
Education Abroad Advisor
Study abroad advising & applications
Program pages
Marketing
Placeholder courses

3. Why Study Abroad? Education.
Student GPAs tend to rise as they approach the completion of their undergraduate degree. Students who studied abroad saw their GPAs rise twice as those who stayed at home.
Study abroad participants are 15% more likely to graduate than non-participants within 4 years.
90% of study abroad alumni who applied got into their 1st or 2nd choice graduate school.

4. Why Study Abroad? Career.
97% of study abroad students find employment within 12 months of graduation, compared to only 49% of college graduates during the same period.
Study abroad alumni have starting salaries on average 25% higher than college graduates who do not study abroad.
71% of study abroad alumni said that because of study abroad they were more satisfied with their jobs.
Sources available upon request.

5. Types of Programs Faculty-Led Programs
Short-term program led by a CatholicU faculty member
Typically 1-2 Catholic University courses
May include collaboration or coursework with a local university
Examples: Honors Spring Break, Irish Summer Institute
Rome Center
Catholic University courses and faculty
Significant Catholic University support
Academic excursions and site visits
Limited course options

6. Types of Programs (cont’d)
Partner Programs
Run by a study abroad organization
High level of student support
Limited course options
Examples: IES, CIEE, AIFS, Sol, Arcadia
Exchanges
Varying levels of student support
Many course options, but may not be finalized until late
Credit levels, course loads, and syllabi may differ
Examples: Hong Kong PolyU, Australian Catholic University

7. Eligibility Requirements
General Requirements
2.3 GPA for Business students, 2.5 GPA for all others
Good disciplinary standing
Semester Requirements
Sophomore, junior, or senior standing
Completion of the language requirement or a reasonable plan for doing so
Program Requirements
Will vary by program, may include a specific major, higher GPA, level of language proficiency, etc.
Can be found on the program page
Exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

8. Study Abroad Advisors Page

9. Cardinal Go Abroad Website
Help students find relevant programs by searching according to location, term, area of study, language of instruction, minimum GPA, internship availability, or other criteria.
Search by area of study to find programs that offer any courses within the selected field. If multiple fields are selected, the search is conducted on an ‘or’ basis; if Accounting and Anthropology are selected, the results will include any programs with any courses in either of those fields.

10. Program Pages
The Fact Sheet at the top lists a basic summary of relevant program information:
The Academics section lists relevant credit information and gives instructions for finding course listings and syllabi.
The Dates section on bottom lists application deadlines and program dates. Some dates may run into the summer, potentially conflicting with internships.

11. Application Process Attend an Education Abroad 101 session.
Research study abroad program options on goabroad.cua.edu and/or meet with an advisor.
Start an application by clicking the “Apply Now” button on the relevant program page.
Submit the Credit Approval Form to the Transfer Coordinator no later than February 17/September 17 in order to have courses evaluated and approved.
Submit all required application materials by March 1 (for most summer and fall programs) or October 1 (for most spring programs).

12. Credit Approval Form
Student completes general information and lists possible courses to take abroad, including several back-ups.
Student submits CAF to the Transfer Coordinator, who contacts the relevant departments to evaluate the courses for credit and equivalency. The Transfer Coordinator then signs and returns the CAF to the student.
The student meets with their academic advising coordinator(s), who note the degree requirement each course will fulfill and add any relevant comments. The academic advising coordinator(s) sign next to each course and the bottom of the sheet before returning it to the student.
The student uploads a copy of their completed CAF to their online application.
See the CAF Guide on the CUAbroad website for more information.

13. Credit Approval Form

14. Credit Transfer
Credit and course equivalencies are established during the application process.
Courses taken abroad can fulfill Catholic University major, minor, or distribution requirements.
Grade of C- or higher required for credit to transfer.
Except for CUA-taught programs, grades received abroad are not factored into a student’s GPA or recorded on the Catholic University transcript.

15. Credit Equivalency
Many programs have credit systems similar to Catholic University’s: 45 contact hours = 3 US credits = 1 course. Others use different credit systems, and courses may be worth more or fewer credits than at Catholic University.
In all cases, students take a full course load at the host institution, which transfers back as a full course load (15 credits) at Catholic University.
Information on credits and expected course load can be found under the Academics section of each program page.
To learn more, see the Working with Foreign Credits worksheet on the CUAbroad website.

16. Credit Transfer Examples
At Australian Catholic University, students take four 4-credit courses:
Australian Catholic U =
Catholic University
LIT Course (4 Credits)
LIT Course (3 Credits)
HIST Course (4 Credits)
HIST Course (3 Credits)
BIO Course (4 Credits)
BIO Course (3 Credits)
POL Course (4 Credits)
POL Course (3 Credits)
FREE Elective (3 Credits) 
At Maynooth University, students take six 5-ECTS courses:
Maynooth =
Catholic University
LIT Course (5 ECTS)
LIT Course (3 Credits)
POL Course (3 Credits)
HIST Course (5 ECTS)
FREE Elective/HUMM Distribution (3 Credits) 
ECTS = European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System
ECTS transfer to US credits at a 2:1 ratio, so some courses have to be combined to fulfill specific CatholicU course requirements.

17. Catholic University in Rome
Now open to 1st semester sophomores with a min 2.8 GPA
Only program open to spring semester seniors
Liberal Arts, Honors, and Architecture tracks
Upcoming faculty:
Fall 2018: Michael Mack (English)
Spring 2019: Katherine Jansen (History)
Fall 2019: Cristina Ionescu (Philosophy)
Spring 2020: Andreas Widmer (Business and Economics)
For more information, visit

18. Oxford About the Program
Two 6-credit tutorials and one 3-credit seminar
Intermediate- or advanced-level course
Weekly book list and 10-page research paper
40+ hours of prep work each week
Preparing Tutorials
Student should propose a topic and prepare a draft tutorial description.
Meet with a CatholicU professor in the department where they want to receive credit.
Revise, revise, revise.
Topics the student is passionate and knowledgeable about
Reading list no longer required, but can be included if useful
For more information, see the Oxford Tutorial Information and Example worksheet.

19. Contact Us Office of Education Abroad (CUAbroad)
The Center for Global Education 110 McMahon Hall
Grace Schneider, Director of Education Abroad
Robert Dowden, Education Abroad Advisor