Office of International Education

UC Santa Cruz

Academic Planning

All UCSC students who study abroad through EAP will receive UC credit for completed coursework. EAP grades will appear on the UCSC transcript, will be calculated into the cumulative GPA, and will count towards the graduation unit requirement. With careful planning, coursework can fulfill degree requirements of your college and your major/minor.

Please Note: EAP grades will take time before being posted to your UCSC record. EAP grades are generally reported to the Registrar's Office by the end of the term after you return from EAP (excluding summer).

Study Abroad and Earn Credit in your Major/Minor

EAP doesn’t require that you take EAP coursework in your major - we only require that you obtain the approval of your department to study abroad (this happens during the application process). This means that you will need to communicate closely with your departmental advisor to ensure that EAP is serving your educational needs.

Some EAP courses have already been pre-approved to fulfill major or minor requirements. If the courses you would like to take are not on the list of pre-approved courses, don't panic. It is common for students to petition for substitution. In this case you must submit course descriptions prior to departure for preliminary approval and then submit course syllabi, descriptions, and possibly student work upon return to UCSC for final approval.

Course Catalog:

Search courses taken by EAP students over the last 5 years and get a feel for the type of courses offered at each host university.

Pre-Approved Coursework and Department Requirements:

Earn General Education Credit

In most cases, students are approved to participate on EAP without completing all of their General Education course requirements. However, all students must complete their General Education requirements prior to graduation. Your plan for completing these requirements should be clearly outlined on the Declaration of Major Form and the EAP Academic Planning Form (in the EAP application). Some EAP courses may be used to fulfill GE requirements, however they must be formally petitioned through the Admissions Office before and/or after EAP participation.

Obtaining GE Credit prior to departure

If you would like to fulfill GE requirements with coursework from EAP, we suggest you obtain pre-approval by following these steps:

    1. Check the Evaluation Data System (EDS) for courses that have previously been approved. If approved the courses are transferrable to UCSC.
    2. If the course is not listed in the EDS, complete the Proposed Program Evaluation Form, and submit it with attached EAP course descriptions to the Office of Admissions for pre-approval of GE credit. EAP course descriptions may be found on the EAP Course Catalog.
    3. Once submitted, the Proposed Program Evaluation form will take two to four weeks to evaluate.
    4. When the course is approved for GE credit, the Admissions Office will update your record after they receive your final grades from the Registrar's Office.

Obtaining GE credit upon return

If you would like to receive GE credit for a course you have already taken abroad, you must wait until your grades have been received by the Registrar's Office (usually by the end of the term after you return from EAP; excluding summer). Once received, complete a Request for Review of Transfer Credit and submit it, along with course descriptions, to the Office of Admissions. This form takes about 4 weeks to process.