Eligibility criteria for study abroad vary across programs, and there may be more eligibility requirements than what we will discuss now. There are three eligibility requirements that are standard for all Overseas Study programs. All programs have a minimum GPA requirement which varies by program. Some programs have very strict minimum GPA requirement; applicants who fall below the threshold cannot be considered. Other programs may have a little flexibility with the GPA allowing students who may have GPA’s near the minimum requirement to be considered for the program. For programs with flexibility, students who are close to the minimum GPA requirement would be considered on a case by case basis.

All programs also have a minimum semester standing requirement. For study abroad eligibility semester standing is defined by the number of full-time semesters a student has spent on campus, not by the total number of credits completed. The minimum requirement is set according to the students standing at the time of application. When a program states a student must be in their fourth semester, this means that the earliest they would study abroad would be the fall of their junior year, allowing them to apply during second semester of their sophomore year.

Students must be able to make degree progress on their program of choice. The courses students plan to take do not have to count toward the major students can fulfil general education, elective, or minor credit. Many students work toward fulfilling a combination of major and other types of requirements. Review committees will want to see that studying abroad would not be the cause of a student taking longer than the standard 4 years to graduate and that the coursework available makes sense for the student’s degree. We advise students to include additional information in their personal statement if it may not be clear how the program benefits them academically.