Academic Advising
Before you decide on a program, you should check in with your academic advisor to ensure that a given international experience fits well with your academic plan. Your advisor may have suggestions for programs that best fit your major or minor, can help you find courses that may transfer back to K-State, and help you enroll in courses once you return from abroad. You can find the contact information for your academic advisor in KSIS. It is never too early to talk to your academic advisor about your education abroad plans!
Academic Advisors: Please see the full Academic Advisor Guide for Education Abroad at Kansas State University here.
Academic Approval for Coursework Abroad
Before going abroad, all students should have the courses they are taking abroad evaluated for both credit conversion and determining their K-State course equivalent. This process is a way for you to confirm how certain courses abroad will transfer back to K-State.
When you are applying to study abroad, review the list of courses offered at your host institution of study. You will need to fill out the questionnaire on your K-State application to provide us with your course selections. You should include a backup for each course you want to take (i.e. students taking four courses abroad should list eight for evaluation). Your education abroad advisor will submit the courses for evaluation through the K-State's Transfer Equivalency System (TES). Evaluation times vary and are typically completed within one to three weeks. Once evaluated, the student and Education Abroad Advisor will be notified of the evaluation outcome. There are three possible outcomes:
- A fully equivalent course will have the K-State course number and title listed.
- Courses with equivalencies such as ACCTG-1**, MATH-2**, ELECT-1** are transferable but must be evaluated by the K-State college/department of the student's intended major to see how they will be applied to their degree requirement. The application of these courses can change if they decide to switch their major and will be reevaluated by their new department at that time.
- Course listed as "no transfer" will not transfer to K-State.
Once Education Abroad has received all of the submitted evaluations, they will create an Academic Approval Form that lists the courses from abroad and their KSU equivalent. This document will then be sent to the student and their academic advisor so they can discuss the equivalences and how they will be applied to the student's degree requirements.
It is important to note that the Transfer Equivalency System is NOT evaluating credit hours. They are simply evaluating the content of a course. Credit hour conversion will be completed by the Education Abroad office and included on a student's Academic Approval Form.
If you need assistance obtaining syllabi or descriptions for courses abroad, please contact your Education Abroad advisor.
Confirming Your Course Enrollment Once Abroad
Once you arrive at your host university, you must confirm with Education Abroad which courses you have enrolled in. Email your Education Abroad Advisor the full list of courses you have enrolled in for the term. You may arrive at your host university and discover that you cannot enroll in some of the classes that you initially wanted. If this happens, do not panic! Simply go ahead and enroll in new courses that best fit your needs. After you enroll, you should email your Education Abroad advisor with the course description and syllabi. Your Education Abroad Advisor will then submit the courses to TES for their evaluation by the Colleges, update your Academic Approval Form, and loop in your Academic Advisor.
Some courses from abroad have previously been evaluated with KSU equivalencies. If you know which courses you are interested in taking, you can reference the Transfer Equivalency database to see if this information is available: http://www.k-state.edu/undergradadmit/transferequivalency.html