Study Abroad Office Northwestern

In This Section:

• NU Application Requirements
• Requirements While Abroad

Online Guide to Study Abroad

• Academic Issues
• Requirements
• Financial Issues
• Health and Safety Abroad
• Diversity Abroad
  

Publications and Forms

• Study Abroad Handbook 2009-2010
• Study Abroad Handbook 2010-2011
• WCAS Letter
• SESP Letter
• Music Letter
• Medill Letter
• McCormick Letter & Forms
• Communication Letter

Requirements While Abroad

General requirements

To remain fully enrolled and maintain your academic standing while abroad, all students must take a sufficient number of courses. Carefully review the web page Credit Enrollment Requirements and check with your program coordinator to find out exactly how many credits you will earn for your coursework abroad.

Special requirements

Northwestern Study Abroad has a number of other, more specific requirements. Please read them over carefully, identify which requirements (if any) apply to you, and be sure to adhere to them. Students who do not abide by these requirements risk losing credit. It is your responsibility to make sure that you follow them.

• Housing Requirement (All Programs)
  You are not permitted to make your own housing arrangements when the program you are on has housing options for you. The only exception to this rule is the American University of Cairo, where we permit students to either live in the dorm or find their own apartments. For all other programs, if you have mitigating circumstances and believe you should be allowed to make your own arrangements, please talk to the Northwestern Study Abroad Office.  If an exception is made, you will be required to submit an Independent Housing Waiver to the Study Abroad Office prior to departure.
• Internships/Field Placements/Practicum Abroad for Credit
  Northwestern is strict about the requirements that an internship, field placement, or practicum course needs to meet in order to qualify for credit at Northwestern. Carefully review the web page, Internships for Credit

• Independent Study/Research Projects Abroad for Credit
  Be sure to read our web page, Conducting Independent Study & Research Projects Abroad.
• All IPD Exchange Programs
  Enrollment in the world-class institutions Northwestern works with requires careful academic counseling and planning to ensure successful integration into non-US settings. Consulting with the Office of International Program Development (847-467-6953) and your departmental/school advisers, and following up with your own research, will make issues such as credit, course selection and cultural adjustment work best for you.
• Language Courses (Students studying in countries where the official language is not English)
  You must enroll in at least one language course, or one course taught in the official language, throughout the duration of your program. This requirement does not apply to students on the Duke Classics program in Rome, although students on this program are required to take Latin and/or Greek.
• Business and Law Courses Abroad
  To receive credit for business and law courses, the courses must be comparable to those offered at Northwestern. For more information, see the web page, Taking Business and Law Courses Abroad.

Program-specific requirements

Many, but not all, programs have specific requirements that participants are expected to follow.  Northwestern also has program-specific requirements regarding housing and course enrollment for many programs. Carefully review individual program information pages to see if requirements exist for your program.  As stated above, you are responsible for following all program and Northwestern requirements.