Transferring Credit from Study Abroad
Upon completion of your study abroad program, follow the below steps to start the study abroad credit transfer process based on your program types.
Remember that if you receive financial aid for study abroad, you are required to transfer your credits back to Northwestern, regardless of whether you "need" the credits or intend to petition for specific departmental credit.
Partner, Exchange, and Independent Programs
Send Program Transcripts to the Global Learning Office
Please work with your program to request or confirm that an official electronic transcript is sent directly to GLO at global@northwestern.edu. If your program is unable to provide an electronic transcript, please contact Laura Barron at l-barron@northwestern.edu or your GLO adviser for assistance.
Once your transcript is received by GLO, it takes up to 3 weeks to post on CAESAR.
Please note: It typically takes study abroad programs and foreign universities about two months to send the official transcript to Northwestern GLO. If your study abroad credits have not been posted on CAESAR after two months, contact your study abroad program to see if they have sent the transcript to our office.
Programs with Delayed Transcript Processing
Participants of CASA Barcelona Fall quarter programs, Arcadia-King's College, and IFSA-Argentine Universities Program should expect their transcripts to be delivered to Northwestern GLO approximately three to four months after program completion.
Submit a Program Evaluation
You are required to complete a program evaluation, which should take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete. Your study abroad transcript will not be forwarded to the Office of the Registrar until you complete a program evaluation.
Your evaluation will be treated confidentially, unless you indicate otherwise, and your honest assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of your program will provide us with important feedback to improve the program for future students.
Complete the Credit Transfer Process for Your School
If you are seeking to fulfill major, minor, or distribution or other school requirements, you must follow the credit transfer process for your school.
If you studied abroad through Arcadia University or IES Abroad, you will receive access to an unofficial transcript through the program provider. For assistance obtaining an unofficial transcript for other programs, contact Laura Barron at l-barron@northwestern.edu.
Retain as many of your course materials as possible, regardless of what kind of credit you are seeking for your courses. Many schools/departments will need to see class descriptions, syllabi, papers, readings, and other course materials from your classes abroad as part of their credit petition process.
For Exchange Programs: Learn more about minimum requirements, grade equivalencies, and credit conversion.
Northwestern & Global Practicum Programs
Submit a Program Evaluation
You are required to complete a program evaluation, which should take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete. Your study abroad transcript will not be forwarded to the Office of the Registrar until you complete a program evaluation.
Your evaluation will be treated confidentially, unless you indicate otherwise, and your honest assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of your program will provide us with important feedback to improve the program for future students.
Credit Posts (Northwestern Direct Credit Only)
If you participated on a Northwestern program that offers direct Northwestern course credit, you do not need to petition for credit for study abroad courses. You are enrolled in regular Northwestern courses (i.e., courses with Northwestern course numbers with an "-SA" section number) while abroad. All courses and grades appear on your Northwestern transcript and are factored into your GPA.
Complete the Credit Transfer Process for Your School (Transfer Credit Only)
If you participated on the Berlin: German City, Global Perspectives program, some of the credit posts to your Northwestern record as transfer credit. If you are seeking to fulfill major, minor, or distribution or other school requirements, you must follow the credit transfer process for your school. You will need the unofficial copy of your study abroad transcript as part of the credit petitioning process.
For assistance obtaining an unofficial transcript for other programs, contact Laura Barron at l-barron@northwestern.edu.
Retain as many of your course materials as possible, regardless of what kind of credit you are seeking for your courses. Many schools/departments will need to see class descriptions, syllabi, papers, readings, and other course materials from your classes abroad as part of their credit petition process.
Grades & Transcripts
Direct Credit
For study abroad programs offering direct credit for Northwestern (-SA) courses:
- Courses appear individually on your Northwestern transcript.
- Letter grades for each course appear on your Northwestern transcript and count toward your term and cumulative GPAs.
- "Pass/Fail" is not permitted

Transfer Credit
- The name of your program or university will be noted on your Northwestern transcript.
- Course grades will not appear on your Northwestern transcript or factor into your cumulative GPA.
- Courses that are transferred to your record are recorded initially as 100-level general elective credit (GEN_LA 1XX).
- If approved by your department or school as specific credit, courses may be denoted as either:
- General departmental credit (e.g. PHIL 2XX, denoting general Philosophy credit at the 200 level), or
- Northwestern-equivalent courses (e.g. PHIL 110-0, intro to Philosophy or ECON 311, Intermediate Macroeconomics)

- If a course is not transferable, your Northwestern transcript will note "0" credit a special statement will be posted:
- A grade of C- or lower or a course taken pass/fail
- "Study Abroad Credit: No credit given for non-transferable grade."
- A course converts to less than 1 unit at Northwestern
- "Study Abroad Course: No credit given for non-transferable semester hour."
- A non-transferable course was taken
- "Study Abroad Course: No credit given due to non-transferable subject."

Graduate Schools and GPAs
While grades from some coursework completed abroad do not affect the Northwestern GPA, it is important to remember that graduate schools (including medical, business, and law schools) generally instruct applicants to provide study abroad transcripts and then recalculate GPAs so that they include study abroad grades.
Study Abroad Transcripts
Contact your study abroad program or host institution for an official copy of your study abroad transcript. Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the Northwestern University Office of the Registrar cannot release or issue one.
We recommend that you request multiple official transcripts for future use from your study abroad program soon after completing the program.
To request unofficial copies of study abroad transcripts from GLO, email Laura Barron at l-barron@northwestern.edu.