Direct Exchange & Independent Study Abroad
To obtain transfer course approval, students must:
1 - Meet with their Academic Advisor to make sure that studying abroad fits well
with their academic plan;
2 - Plan on taking academic courses that do not repeat material that they have already
completed;
3 - Plan on taking all coursework in the proper sequential order (i.e. students
may not take MA 198 Calculus abroad if they should have taken MA 197 Pre-Calculus
first at JCU);
4 - Obtain pre-approval for all their selected courses from the Registrar's Office
by submitting a Course Away Form. The Registrar’s Office will evaluate both the University and the courses and inform
the students of the JCU equivalencies.
To receive credit, students must keep in mind that transfer credits are not awarded in advance. The Registrar's Office will only transfer non-JCU coursework after courses have been completed and an official transcript with final grades has been received.
Academic Policy: Repeated Courses
Courses in which a student received a final grade of C- or below may be repeated. No grade is removed from the transcript, but only the last grade received in a course is considered in computing a student's grade point average and credits earned. This pertains only to classes taken and repeated at JCU. If a class is repeated outside JCU, both the initial grade and the subsequent grade will appear on the transcript and will be considered in calculating a student's grade point average.
Academic Policy: Transferring credits while matriculated at JCU
Students who are currently matriculated may transfer credit for courses taken at other institutions by submitting a Course Away Form to the Registrar's Office before the courses are taken. All grades will be registered on JCU transcripts and factored into your CUM GPA at JCU.
Students receiving U.S. government financial aid must check with the JCU Financial Aid Office before enrolling in courses at other institutions. Students are not to complete thesis courses or major program capstone courses at other institutions
Requesting and Submitting Official Transcripts
In order to transfer the credits for courses taken abroad, the Registrar's Office must receive official transcripts from the institution where students conducted their study abroad semester.
Official transcripts must be submitted in one of the following ways:
- sent via air-mail in an official, sealed envelope
- sent via script-safe electronic transcripts
- hand delivered by the student in an official, sealed envelope
Mailing address for air-mail and overnight deliveries:
John Cabot University
Registrar's Office
Via della Lungara, 233
Rome (RM) - 00165 - Italy
Email address for script-safe transcript submission: [email protected]
Study abroad options
Direct Exchange
Current JCU students who are interested in studying abroad can learn more about the
complete list of institutions, the application process, and eligibility requirements
on the Direct Exchange Program page.
Students must complete the Course Away Form listing the courses that they would like to take abroad and their course description. The Registrar’s Office will evaluate both the University and the courses and inform the students of the JCU equivalencies. Please note that courses will be transferred and added to the students’ JCU transcripts once the official transcripts are received.
Independent Study Abroad
Current JCU students can study abroad at a regionally accredited American institution
or any accredited and authorized national university. Please refer to the official
Independent Study Abroad webpage for more information about the program and its application process.
How is Independent Study Abroad different from the Direct Exchange program and what are the steps?
1 - Course Approval: students should schedule an appointment with their Academic Advisor to make sure that
the courses they wish to enroll for will transfer back to JCU and will further their
academics by fulfilling major and/or minor requirements. Students that are going abroad
during the first semester of their Senior Year at John Cabot University need to submit
a Petition for Exemption to Academic Policy with their Academic Advisors to waive
the “last 30-credit” residency requirement. Students must complete the Course Away Form listing the courses that they would like to take abroad and their course description.
The Registrar’s Office will evaluate both the University and the courses and inform
the students of the JCU equivalencies. Please note that courses will be transferred
and added to the students’ JCU transcripts once the official transcripts are received.
2 - Application: students are responsible for submitting their application to the host university,
along with any supporting documents, by the host university's deadlines;
3 - Tuition: students who study abroad independently pay tuition and any additional enrollment
fees directly to the host university, according to the host university's prices, policies
and deadlines;
4 - Leave of Absence: students will need to apply for a Leave of Absence from John Cabot University for the duration of their study abroad
Important: US Federal Aid: if students are US Federal Aid recipients, completing coursework online or in the U.S.A. may put them at risk of losing federal loan eligibility. This affects all US Federal Aid recipients who spend a term at a US institution, study abroad with a program hosted by a US institution, or enroll in a distance learning programs at a US institution. For further assistance, please email the Financial Aid Office at [email protected].
Learn more about these study abroad options for JCU students.