Registering for Your Program
Enrollment Form. All students participating in programs abroad administered or approved by the Office of International Programs register through Continuing Education Credit Programs. After you are admitted, you should obtain an Enrollment Form from the Study Abroad Center or from your program director. Using the appropriate course number(s) provided, complete and sign your Enrollment Form. Submit the original to the Study Abroad Center and keep a copy for your files. Registration at UNI. Semester abroad students enroll for 12 hours regardless of how many hours will eventually transfer back to UNI. Being enrolled full-time at UNI during your program abroad will release your UNI financial aid for payment of your program. Academic year abroad program participants must complete two separate Enrollment Forms, one for each semester. Participants in short-term or summer programs receive their Enrollment Forms from the program director. The course numbers are always program-specific. Preliminary Credit Approval Form. The Study Abroad Preliminary Credit Approval Form must be completed before departure if you wish to apply academic credit earned on a study abroad program toward your degree at UNI. The Preliminary Credit Approval Form constitutes a tentative agreement that, provided successful completion, courses proposed will count toward your degree at UNI. If your academic program abroad involves transfer credit to UNI, regardless whether the transcript is issued by a U.S. university or by an overseas university/organization, you must complete this form. Study abroad programs where participants earn UNI credit are exempt from this requirement, of course. Final determination of UNI equivalencies will be based on the review of the overseas academic transcript. Students are strongly advised to bring back course syllabi, list of required readings and other course materials, papers, etc. as proof of academic work to facilitate the final credit evaluation. Approval Categories & Signatures. You may use credit earned abroad to satisfy graduation requirements in your major, minor, certificate, the Liberal Arts Core, or UNI electives. To get approval for course equivalencies, you must obtain signatures from the appropriate offices and individuals: your advisor (often within a particular department), and the Office of Admissions. The form must be submitted to the Office of Admissions for final approval. Provide a signed copy to the Study Abroad Center and keep one for your files. It is your responsibility to obtain approval for additional changes after the program departs.
On-Site Registration. You will register for your classes at the host institution typically during the week or days prior to the opening of the semester. Very few institutions overseas have pre-registration a semester ahead as you are familiar with here at UNI. After arrival, some institutions may allow you to experiment with classes at first before making a final decision about the classes you wish to take. After the experimental period, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are actually officially enrolled in the classes you attend. Full-time enrollment overseas is mandatory on all semester programs. It is the student’s responsibility to sign up and successfully complete the equivalent of 12 UNI semester hours. Official Transcript. At the end of the term abroad – usually within about a month from the last day of the exam period - an official transcript will be mailed to UNI from the foreign institution you attend. It is your responsibility to request the official transcript to be mailed directly to the UNI Office of Admissions. The Assistant Director of International Admissions will work with you and your department on finalizing the credit and grade transfer after you return. Graded vs. Pass/Fail Credit. Your grades transfer back as “graded credit” unless you request this requirement to be waived. Permission for the waiver must be sought from the Office of Admissions in a timely fashion. Check the deadlines and other guidelines published in the Schedule of Classes. Graduating Seniors: You will be happy to know that participating in a UNI program abroad will not count against the residency requirement for graduation. If the semester abroad is your last semester at UNI, you must apply for graduation. This is entirely your responsibility. Review your degree audit to make sure you will have the required credits for graduation. Meet with your academic advisor and your Record Analyst in the Office of the Registrar. Non-UNI Programs. If you are participating in a non-UNI program and wish to transfer the credits back to UNI, your program and your participation in the program must first be approved. After approval is secured, you may proceed to submit your application to the program provider. Contact the Study Abroad Center after you receive your letter of admission to make arrangements to enroll for the duration of your program Billing. All UNI programs will be billed to your UNI account (U-bill). Typically, you will receive a U-bill for the program fee at the time of your registration. Instructions regarding due dates and installment payments will accompany your bill. Many programs are based on UNI tuition but many are not. Regardless, you will benefit from receiving the charge on your U-bill if you participate in a UNI program. Release of Financial Aid. Registration for the program and the bill that is generated will release your financial aid for the term. If you receive scholarships, grants or other types of financial assistance that exceed the cost of your program, the difference will be issued to you as a refund. For short-term and summer programs you may have already returned from your program before the bill for it arrives. Academic year programs will be billed as two separate semester charges, just as when you are on campus. If your financial aid is greater than the cost of your program - or if you have pre-paid part or all of your program fee before financial aid is released - the difference will be refunded to you after all your other university obligations (parking tickets, overdue library book fines, etc.) have been met. The funds will either be mailed to the address you have given the Registrar’s Office of will be direct-deposited to your bank, depending on what arrangement you have made with the university. Non-UNI Programs: All non-UNI programs must be approved by the Office of Admissions and the Study Abroad Center before permission to participate and transfer courses back to UNI may be granted. After you are admitted, you will receive a bill from the institution administering the program. You may use your UNI financial aid to pay for your program after the UNI Financial Aid Office is informed of your participation. If you are receiving UNI financial aid, and if you have no outstanding debts to the university (parking tickets, overdue library book fines, etc.), the funds will either be mailed to the address you have made with the university. You can then use these funds to pay for your program through the sponsoring institution. Cost of Housing & Meals. If you are participating in an exchange program and receive a U-bill for UNI tuition only, you will be responsible for payment of your housing and meals at the host institution. Depending on the local situation, you may choose from a variety of options. Home-stays are often paid directly to the family, but in most cases your lodging, and often your meal plan, will be billed to you by the host institution. A few programs have housing (and some meals) built into the program cost but allow the students to choose to live off-campus. In that case, the host institution will be responsible for refunding to you the cost of accommodation (and meals, if included). Short-term program and many other group programs often include the cost of housing, and arrangements for housing (and often for meals) will have already been made for you. A few programs offer a home-stay option for at least part of the duration of the program. It is a great way to get a feel for the country you are visiting and really get to know some people who live in that culture. |