Choosing Courses to Take Abroad

General Guidelines

  • A course is eligible for credit transfer, as long as Northwestern teaches its general subject at the undergraduate level. For example, an Irish literature course is fine because Northwestern offers literature courses.
  • You must take all courses included in your full-time load for an official grade.
  • You must complete all courses, coursework, and final assessments on site.

Non-transferable courses

You will not receive Northwestern credit for the following types of courses:
  • Courses taken abroad on a "pass/fail" basis
  • Duplicate courses (meaning, they duplicate courses you have already received credit for at Northwestern)
  • Courses covering subject matter not taught in Northwestern's undergraduate curriculum (e.g., wine tasting, cooking, fashion design, etc.)
  • Since Northwestern does not allow undergraduates to major in business or law, taking these courses for credit abroad can be tricky. Particular types of business and law courses are allowed because Northwestern offers minors in business institutions and legal studies. See Taking Business Classes Abroad web page for more information.
Taking non-transferable courses may cause serious problems with the University Residence Requirement and financial aid, since you may not receive enough NU credit to constitute a minimum full load (3 courses/quarter) at Northwestern. If you are interested in taking a non-transferable course, audit it or take it as an overload.

School-Specific Requirements

The downloadable letters below explain the study abroad policies and procedures for each school:
 Read your school letter carefully, and contact your school representative if you have any questions.

Program-Specific Requirements

Many, but not all, programs have specific requirements that participants are expected to follow. Review the "Additional Requirements" portion of your program's online profile to see if these exist for your program.

Changing your course enrollment while abroad

Although your department and/or school advisers will have reviewed your anticipated course prior to departure, there is a good chance that, once you are abroad, you may decide to register for a different course.

If this happens, promptly contact the relevant advisers at Northwestern to discuss the potential changes. If you are interested in adding an independent study/research or internship/field placement/practicum course, make sure you read our documents that explain Northwestern Study Abroad's special policies on these types of courses and then discuss them with your school representative.

For internships done abroad, you will also need to meet with a Study Abroad adviser and complete a petition before departure.

Note: Changes in enrollment during study abroad, including but not limited to changes in course selection and the receipt of a failing grade or an incomplete, may result in the loss of financial aid and/or acceptable credits upon return to campus (which could affect your University Residence Requirement as well). If you have questions about a change in enrollment, please contact the Study Abroad Office.

Important Reminders

  • Northwestern does not guarantee credit for courses taken abroad. Final course approval, for all kinds of credit, will be given after you return from abroad and upon review of an official study abroad transcript.
  • Make sure to bring back with you as many of your course materials as possible, regardless of what kinds of credit you are seeking for your courses. If the Registrar's Office has doubts regarding the creditworthiness of a course--even one for which you are only seeking elective credit--they may ask a professor in the appropriate field to review your course materials.
  • If you are majoring or minoring in economics or business institutions and you take multiple business courses abroad, you will probably not get major and/or minor credit for all of these courses.